Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday after TD Securities lowered their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $26.00. The stock had previously closed at $18.40, but opened at $17.50. TD Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Barrick Gold shares last traded at $17.54, with a volume of 5,579,697 shares changing hands.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.50 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Barrick Gold during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 628.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company's stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $19.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.01%.

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.