Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Trading 1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $17.01 and last traded at $16.96. 6,652,581 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 21,317,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group cut Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Securities lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.90.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.06.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.82% and a net margin of 13.19%. Barrick Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 43.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Barrick Gold in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.