Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. National Bank Financial reaffirmed a “sector perform overweight” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, February 26th. CIBC decreased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the first quarter valued at $564,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 13.3% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 485,257 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $8,079,000 after buying an additional 56,854 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 157,778 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $2,625,000 after buying an additional 22,872 shares during the last quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 24.1% during the first quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 212,208 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after buying an additional 41,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the first quarter valued at $61,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:GOLD opened at $17.07 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.29. Barrick Gold has a fifty-two week low of $13.76 and a fifty-two week high of $20.75. The firm has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.16.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 11.16%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.074 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

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.