Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by UBS Group

UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $22.00 price target on the gold and copper producer’s stock, down from their prior price target of $23.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on GOLD. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.50 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

NYSE:GOLD opened at $19.05 on Wednesday. Barrick Gold has a one year low of $13.76 and a one 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 firm has a market cap of $33.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.41.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 5.53%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.51%.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the first quarter worth $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 628.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Barrick Gold

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.