Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $22.00 price target on the gold and copper producer’s stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 19.21% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on GOLD. TD Securities reduced their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.0 %

GOLD opened at $18.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold has a 52 week low of $15.11 and a 52 week high of $21.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.17.

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

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 2.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 17.5% in 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 buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $516,055,000 after buying an additional 19,189,830 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $237,280,000 after buying an additional 278,292 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.