Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Down 3.6% After Analyst Downgrade

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price traded down 3.6% during mid-day trading on Monday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $23.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Barrick Gold traded as low as $17.37 and last traded at $17.56. 6,697,085 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 21,478,600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.22.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Raymond James cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. CIBC cut Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.70.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 3.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 399,296 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $6,644,000 after acquiring an additional 14,853 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 19.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,839,056 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $63,883,000 after acquiring an additional 628,477 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 27.2% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 56,105 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $934,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 10.7% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,895 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The company has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.56.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.01%.

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.