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

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.30.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of GOLD opened at $20.38 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.65. Barrick Gold has a 12-month low of $13.76 and a 12-month high of $21.13. The firm has a market cap of $35.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 5.53%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Barrick Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.78%.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 58.4% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 37,128,653 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Barrick Gold by 31.6% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 58,820,050 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $978,766,000 after acquiring an additional 14,138,639 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 16.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,417,244 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,385,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 18,170,814 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $302,366,000 after buying an additional 5,080,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

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.