Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Up 0.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) shares traded up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday after Berenberg Bank raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $38.00. The stock traded as high as $17.75 and last traded at $17.60. 4,458,735 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 21,508,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.56.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 4,713.3% during 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 period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $66,820,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $227,524,000 after buying an additional 2,854,055 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,768,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 43.01%.

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.