Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price traded down 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $20.73 and last traded at $20.93. 5,515,295 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 20,971,838 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.60.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 2.5 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.28. The company has a market capitalization of $36.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 3.01.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 5.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 valued at $1,077,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,572 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 58,820,050 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $978,766,000 after buying an additional 14,138,639 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in 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 worth $314,254,000 after buying an additional 666,214 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 9.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,887,656 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $251,929,000 after buying an additional 1,231,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.3% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 461,406 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.