UBS Group Downgrades Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) to Hold

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) was downgraded by research analysts at UBS Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

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

Barrick Gold Price Performance

TSE ABX opened at C$26.91 on Wednesday. Barrick Gold has a twelve month low of C$18.65 and a twelve month high of C$29.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$27.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$25.01. The stock has a market capitalization of C$47.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 3.01.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The basic materials company reported C$0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.36 by C$0.08. The company had revenue of C$4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$4.12 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 7.20%. Research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 2.2422764 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Riaan Grobler sold 94,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.99, for a total value of C$1,784,693.40. In related news, Director Andrew James Quinn purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$26.00 per share, for a total transaction of C$129,999.00. Also, Senior Officer Riaan Grobler sold 94,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$18.99, for a total value of C$1,784,693.40. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 235,334 shares of company stock worth $5,741,477. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Barrick Gold

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.