Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.75.

GOLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upgraded Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. CIBC downgraded Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 19.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $9,630,000 after purchasing an additional 80,366 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 21.7% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 2,317,580 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $46,097,000 after purchasing an additional 413,012 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,711,000. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 330.5% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 99,240 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 76,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH now owns 1,460,000 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $22,630,000 after purchasing an additional 720,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD stock opened at $18.61 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold has a one year low of $15.11 and a one year high of $21.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.12.

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

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

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.