Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $23.00 to $25.00. The stock had previously closed at $20.21, but opened at $20.64. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Barrick Gold shares last traded at $20.42, with a volume of 6,813,240 shares changing hands.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on GOLD. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. CIBC lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Barrick Gold in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 628.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 175.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.76. The firm has a market cap of $35.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.51.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 4.88%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 48.78%.

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.