Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Stock Price

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $21.00 to $17.00 in a report released on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 13.59% from the company’s current price.

GOLD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. National Bank Financial raised Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upgraded Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of GOLD opened at $19.67 on Monday. 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 has a 1 year low of $15.11 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.99 and a 200-day moving average of $18.01. The company has a market cap of $33.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,182,641,000 after buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. 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. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $516,055,000 after buying 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 worth $237,280,000 after buying an additional 278,292 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.