Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Price Target Raised to $23.00

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on GOLD. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Securities cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.79.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $17.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.98. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $15.11 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The firm has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 9,598,292 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in 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 lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 1.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 278,292 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

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.