Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Up 1.9% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) were up 1.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $20.52 and last traded at $20.27. Approximately 6,419,053 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 21,283,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOLD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. CIBC upped their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.60.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 1.6 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 100,680,644 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,821,963,000 after acquiring an additional 37,128,653 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 58,820,050 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $978,766,000 after buying an additional 14,138,639 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,479,229 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $821,790,000 after purchasing an additional 6,417,244 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Barrick Gold by 38.8% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 18,170,814 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $302,366,000 after buying an additional 5,080,510 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 4,713.3% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,144,456 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $69,141,000 after purchasing an additional 4,058,351 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.