Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Down 1% on Analyst Downgrade

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price dropped 1% on Friday after TD Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $26.00. TD Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Barrick Gold traded as low as $18.17 and last traded at $18.30. Approximately 5,804,423 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 21,136,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.48.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, September 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOLD. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 31.6% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 58,820,050 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $978,766,000 after buying an additional 14,138,639 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Barrick Gold by 221.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $199,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,904,934 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 5,080,510 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 4,058,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold in the second quarter worth $66,820,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.46. The company has a market cap of $32.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 2.31.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. Barrick Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.01%.

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.