Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy Rating

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

GOLD has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.79.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 9.0 %

GOLD stock opened at $17.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold has a 1 year low of $15.11 and a 1 year high of $21.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,060,036,000 after buying an additional 1,195,585 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted 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 valued at $516,055,000 after buying an additional 19,189,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 278,292 shares during the period. 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.