Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) Cut to Hold at UBS Group

UBS Group lowered shares of Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from C$31.00 to C$33.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Eight Capital lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from C$36.00 to C$38.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a C$34.00 price target on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from C$28.50 to C$33.50 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Argus upgraded Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$30.77.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of ABX stock opened at C$27.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of C$48.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48. Barrick Gold has a 52-week low of C$18.65 and a 52-week high of C$29.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of C$27.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$24.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The basic materials company reported C$0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.36 by C$0.08. The business had revenue of C$4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.12 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 7.20% and a net margin of 12.78%. On average, equities analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 2.2422764 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.138 per share. This represents a $0.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from Barrick Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 45.38%.

Insider Transactions at Barrick Gold

In other news, Director Christopher Lewis Coleman sold 121,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$28.10, for a total value of C$3,409,485.40. In other Barrick Gold news, Senior Officer Riaan Grobler sold 94,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$18.99, for a total value of C$1,784,693.40. Also, Director Christopher Lewis Coleman sold 121,334 shares of Barrick Gold stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$28.10, for a total value of C$3,409,485.40. Insiders sold 235,334 shares of company stock valued at $5,741,477 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

Barrick Gold Corporation engages in the exploration, mine development, production, and sale of gold and copper properties in Canada and internationally. The company also explores and sells silver and energy materials. It has ownership interests in producing gold mines located in Argentina, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Mali, Tanzania, and the United States.