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

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.05.

GOLD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 5th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Barrick Gold by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $9,630,000 after purchasing an additional 80,366 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Barrick Gold by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,073,717 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $78,637,000 after purchasing an additional 128,203 shares during the period. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH increased its position in Barrick Gold by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH now owns 1,460,000 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $22,630,000 after purchasing an additional 720,000 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $700,000. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 278,717 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $4,320,000 after acquiring an additional 17,980 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $19.30 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.90. The stock has a market cap of $33.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. Barrick Gold has a fifty-two week low of $15.11 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.