Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Stock Price

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX had its price objective boosted by Scotiabank from $19.00 to $20.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the gold and copper producer's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on GOLD. UBS Group downgraded Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. CIBC downgraded Barrick Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of GOLD stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.31. 29,771,600 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,819,328. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $31.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.18. Barrick Gold has a fifty-two week low of $14.27 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.52%.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Vega Investment Solutions purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.