Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Trading Up 1.1% After Strong Earnings

Shares of Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) were up 1.1% on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $16.58 and last traded at $16.54. Approximately 6,618,796 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 23,051,645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.36.

The gold and copper producer reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.04. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 4.89%. The company had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Barrick Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This is a boost from Barrick Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOLD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 58.4% during 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. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 80,933,517 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,464,070,000 after buying an additional 7,150,142 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,479,229 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $821,790,000 after buying an additional 6,417,244 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.3% during the fourth quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 9,606,218 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $173,727,000 after buying an additional 6,385,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 12.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 43,399,480 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $631,228,000 after buying an additional 4,731,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 0.5 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.59.

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.