Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,833,200 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the August 15th total of 14,012,800 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,244,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOLD. CIBC increased their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Argus upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.30.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GOLD traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.48. 9,113,456 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,297,762. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold has a one year low of $13.76 and a one year high of $21.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.51.

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 48.78%.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 628.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the second quarter worth about $32,000. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.