UBS Group Downgrades Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) to Hold

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) was downgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on ABX. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Barrick Gold from C$31.00 to C$33.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight Capital lifted their price objective on Barrick Gold from C$36.00 to C$38.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a C$34.00 price objective on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from C$28.50 to C$33.50 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$30.77.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 3.5 %

TSE:ABX opened at C$26.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of C$47.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48. Barrick Gold has a 12-month low of C$18.65 and a 12-month high of C$29.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$27.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$25.01.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The basic materials company reported C$0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.36 by C$0.08. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 7.20% and a net margin of 12.78%. The company had revenue of C$4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.12 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 2.2422764 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Riaan Grobler sold 94,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$18.99, for a total transaction of C$1,784,693.40. In other Barrick Gold news, Director Christopher Lewis Coleman sold 121,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$28.10, for a total value of C$3,409,485.40. Also, Senior Officer Riaan Grobler sold 94,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$18.99, for a total value of C$1,784,693.40. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 235,334 shares of company stock valued at $5,741,477. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Corporation engages in the exploration, mine development, production, and sale of gold and copper properties in Canada and internationally. The company also explores and sells silver and energy materials. It has ownership interests in producing gold mines located in Argentina, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Mali, Tanzania, and the United States.