Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Trading 0.4% Higher – Still a Buy?

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) shares shot up 0.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $19.20 and last traded at $19.13. 3,733,467 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 21,548,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 0.9 %

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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.90. The company has a market cap of $33.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,146 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 0.5% during the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 114,572 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $2,227,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 56,394 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.1% in the first quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 55.8% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,193 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

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.