Cormark Issues Optimistic Estimate for Barrick Gold Earnings

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) – Analysts at Cormark increased their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Barrick Gold in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cormark analyst R. Gray now forecasts that the gold and copper producer will post earnings of $0.30 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.26. The consensus estimate for Barrick Gold’s current full-year earnings is $1.47 per share.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GOLD. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. National Bank Financial raised Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at $19.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.93 and a 200-day moving average of $17.93. Barrick Gold has a 52-week low of $15.11 and a 52-week high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $996,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $516,055,000 after purchasing an additional 19,189,830 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Barrick Gold by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,318,376 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $237,280,000 after buying an additional 278,292 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.