Barrick Gold Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 73,722 call options on the company. This is an increase of 48% compared to the average daily volume of 49,851 call options.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.87 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 12-month low of $15.11 and a 12-month high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOLD. TD Securities lowered their target price 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. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $516,055,000 after purchasing an additional 19,189,830 shares during the period. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $172,225,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 valued at $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 221.1% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $199,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 236.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,815,946 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $105,692,000 after acquiring an additional 4,791,663 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.