Barrick Gold Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 83,644 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 80% compared to the average volume of 46,363 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOLD. Scotiabank lowered Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, CIBC lowered Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.83.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 6.5 %

Shares of GOLD stock opened at $18.18 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.17. Barrick Gold has a twelve month low of $13.76 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.65. The company has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. As a group, research analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.01%.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 19.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $9,630,000 after buying an additional 80,366 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 21.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 2,317,580 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $46,097,000 after acquiring an additional 413,012 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,711,000. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 330.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 99,240 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 76,186 shares during the period. Finally, Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH grew its position in Barrick Gold by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH now owns 1,460,000 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $22,630,000 after purchasing an additional 720,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

About Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer.  Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX.
 
In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick.