Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Stock Price Up 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) rose 1.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $20.94 and last traded at $20.46. Approximately 7,336,235 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 23,992,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 5th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $34.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.91. 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 (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,060,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,585 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $996,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $516,055,000 after purchasing an additional 19,189,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,318,376 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $237,280,000 after purchasing an additional 278,292 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

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.