Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Stock

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its price objective hoisted by Raymond James from $23.00 to $23.50 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on GOLD. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America cut Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE GOLD opened at $19.41 on Monday. Barrick Gold has a 1 year low of $15.11 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.07 and a 200 day moving average of $18.02.

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

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

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 32.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% during the fourth 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 grew its position 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 valued at $516,055,000 after buying an additional 19,189,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,318,376 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $237,280,000 after buying an additional 278,292 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.