Barrick Gold Corp Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to Market Perform (ABX)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:ABX) was upgraded by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report issued on Friday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. The firm currently has a $18.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $17.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 7.08% from the stock’s previous close.

The analysts wrote, “Barrick reported Q2/13 adjusted EPS of US$0.66, above BMO Research at US$0.50 and consensus of US$0.58. In addition to the US$0.5B loss on the sale of Barrick Energy, ABX reported a total of US$8.7B in after-tax impairments, including: US$5.1B for Pascua and US$2.3B in goodwill. Barrick cut its quarterly dividend from US$0.20 to US$0.05/sh.”

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:ABX) traded up 2.38% on Friday, hitting $17.21. Barrick Gold Corp has a 1-year low of $13.43 and a 1-year high of $43.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $16.3. The company’s market cap is $17.230 billion.

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post $2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of other firms have also recently commented on ABX. Analysts at RBC Capital reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Barrick Gold Corp in a research note to investors on Thursday, July 25th. They now have a $24.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Macquarie upgraded shares of Barrick Gold Corp from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Barrick Gold Corp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, July 9th. They now have a $30.00 price target on the stock.

One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.67.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%.

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX) is engaged in the production and sale of gold, as well as related activities.