Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Short Interest Up 34.2% in November

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 20,404,300 shares, an increase of 34.2% from the November 15th total of 15,209,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,546,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upgraded Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 25.2% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 49,700 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the third quarter worth about $210,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the third quarter worth about $517,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.4% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,973 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Barrick Gold by 3.5% during the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 55,875 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of GOLD traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.78. 13,364,270 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,413,570. The company has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.58 and a 200 day moving average of $18.52. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $13.76 and a 1-year high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.01%.

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.