Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Barrick Gold Call Options (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 66,516 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 37% compared to the typical volume of 48,697 call options.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of GOLD stock traded down $0.48 on Thursday, reaching $20.32. The stock had a trading volume of 29,505,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,093,443. The stock has a market cap of $35.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold has a 1 year low of $13.76 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.30.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Barrick Gold by 31.6% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 58,820,050 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $978,766,000 after acquiring an additional 14,138,639 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 38.8% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 18,170,814 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $302,366,000 after buying an additional 5,080,510 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 4,713.3% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,144,456 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $69,141,000 after buying an additional 4,058,351 shares in the last quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the second quarter worth about $66,820,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 82.1% in the first quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 5,302,815 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $88,239,000 after buying an additional 2,390,238 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on GOLD. Argus raised 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. CIBC upped their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.60.

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.