Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Stock Price Down 1% on Analyst Downgrade

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price dropped 1% on Friday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $24.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Barrick Gold traded as low as $18.17 and last traded at $18.30. Approximately 5,804,423 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 21,136,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.48.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group cut Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $26.50 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SouthState Corp boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.2% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 468,444 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $9,317,000 after acquiring an additional 10,108 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 87,217 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,017 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 202,547 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $4,029,000 after purchasing an additional 998 shares during the period. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 184,230 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $3,664,000 after purchasing an additional 7,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 128.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 174,304 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $3,467,000 after buying an additional 98,086 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $31.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.02 and a 200-day moving average of $18.44.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.51%.

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.