Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Down 2.5% – Here’s What Happened

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price dropped 2.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $20.28 and last traded at $20.29. Approximately 5,965,670 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 20,981,551 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOLD shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Argus upgraded Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $26.50 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.60.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 3.4 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.30. The company has a market cap of $35.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 12.78%. Barrick Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,761,067 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,077,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,572 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 31.6% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 58,820,050 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $978,766,000 after buying an additional 14,138,639 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.7% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 18,837,028 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $314,254,000 after acquiring an additional 666,214 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 9.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,887,656 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $251,929,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Barrick Gold by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 14,546,530 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $242,491,000 after purchasing an additional 461,406 shares during the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently 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.