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

Shares of Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX - Get Free Report) NYSE: ABX have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$31.00.

ABX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Barrick Gold from C$37.00 to C$36.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lowered Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a C$34.00 price target on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Activity

In other Barrick Gold news, Director Christopher Lewis Coleman sold 121,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$28.10, for a total value of C$3,409,485.40. Also, Senior Officer Poupak Bahamin sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$24.49, for a total transaction of C$61,215.00. Insiders sold 143,834 shares of company stock worth $4,017,999 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 2.3 %

Barrick Gold stock traded up C$0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting C$24.79. 4,991,546 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,585,690. Barrick Gold has a 52 week low of C$18.65 and a 52 week high of C$29.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54. The stock has a market capitalization of C$43.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$26.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$25.23.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is 45.38%.

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.