Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX - Get Free Report) NYSE: ABX has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three 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. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$30.17.

ABX has been the subject of several research reports. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from C$33.50 to C$32.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a C$34.00 target price on shares of Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold to C$21.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of ABX stock traded up C$0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching C$22.60. 2,426,498 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,580,784. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is C$24.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$25.22. The firm has a market cap of C$39.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54, a current ratio of 3.01 and a quick ratio of 2.62. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of C$18.65 and a 1-year high of C$29.50.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dennis Mark Bristow purchased 85,296 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of C$25.03 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,135,291.53. Also, Senior Officer Poupak Bahamin sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$24.49, for a total value of C$61,215.00. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Barrick Gold

Barrick Gold Corporation engages in the exploration, mine development, production, and sale of gold and copper properties in Canada and internationally. The company also explores and sells silver and energy materials. It has ownership interests in producing gold mines located in Argentina, Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Mali, Tanzania, and the United States.