Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.75.

GOLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 0.8 %

GOLD opened at $18.61 on Monday. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $15.11 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.86 and a 200-day moving average of $18.12.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 32.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $516,055,000 after buying an additional 19,189,830 shares during the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter valued at about $172,225,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after buying an additional 6,904,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 236.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,815,946 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $105,692,000 after buying an additional 4,791,663 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.