Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) Stock Rating Lowered by Scotiabank

Scotiabank lowered shares of Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX - Free Report) NYSE: ABX from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ABX. UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a C$34.00 price target on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from C$33.50 to C$30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a C$36.00 target price on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$30.38.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

ABX traded down C$0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting C$22.47. 1,648,552 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,816,077. The firm has a market cap of C$39.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's fifty day moving average is C$23.43 and its 200 day moving average is C$25.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54. Barrick Gold has a one year low of C$18.65 and a one year high of C$29.50.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX - Get Free Report) NYSE: ABX last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported C$0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of C$0.45 by C($0.03). Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 7.20% and a net margin of 12.78%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 2.2422764 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis Mark Bristow acquired 85,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$25.03 per share, with a total value of C$2,135,291.53. Also, Senior Officer Poupak Bahamin acquired 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$25.03 per share, with a total value of C$144,645.87. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by 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.