Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Barrick Gold (NYSE:B)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 93,019 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 183% compared to the average daily volume of 32,900 call options.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE B opened at $20.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Barrick Gold has a one year low of $17.41 and a one year high of $47.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.83. The company has a market capitalization of $34.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 30.08%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on B shares. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 136.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $516,055,000 after purchasing an additional 19,189,830 shares during the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth about $172,225,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 worth $996,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 236.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,815,946 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $105,692,000 after buying an additional 4,791,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter valued at about $57,991,000. 90.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.