Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Up 5.1% Following Dividend Announcement

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price rose 5.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $18.23 and last traded at $17.94. Approximately 9,745,724 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 19,926,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.07.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 43.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOLD. Scotiabank cut Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.83.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.17.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted 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 net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $199,427,000 after buying an additional 6,904,934 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 33.3% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $227,524,000 after buying an additional 2,854,055 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,999 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $169,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,603,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,726,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.