Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Price Target Raised to $23.50 at Raymond James

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its price target hoisted by Raymond James from $23.00 to $23.50 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GOLD. Citigroup lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Canada upgraded Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD opened at $19.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.02. Barrick Gold has a 52-week low of $15.11 and a 52-week high of $21.35.

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

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Barrick Gold by 619.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.