Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 978,497 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the previous session’s volume of 1,248,771 shares.The stock last traded at $18.55 and had previously closed at $18.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on B. Raymond James boosted their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Barrick Gold in a research report on Monday, May 12th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 2.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.72. The firm has a market cap of $32.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Barrick Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 30.08%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 19.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 80,366 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 13,829 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,712 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Clarius Group LLC acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $170,000. Finally, Systrade AG boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. Systrade AG now owns 2,000,300 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $31,005,000 after buying an additional 600,000 shares in the last quarter. 90.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.