Share Repurchase Plan Announced by Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Board

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE GOLD opened at $17.96 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.17. The stock has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold has a 12-month low of $14.25 and a 12-month high of $21.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. On average, analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 43.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Securities decreased their target price 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. CIBC cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank cut shares of Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.67.

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.