Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at TD Securities

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Free Report) TSE: ABX had its target price lowered by TD Securities from $24.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the gold and copper producer's stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on GOLD. Raymond James cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. CIBC cut Barrick Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank cut Barrick Gold from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.67.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

NYSE GOLD traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.96. The stock had a trading volume of 29,052,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,482,404. The firm's 50 day moving average is $16.25 and its 200 day moving average is $18.17. Barrick Gold has a twelve month low of $14.25 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.82% and a net margin of 13.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $9,630,000 after acquiring an additional 80,366 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 2,317,580 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $46,097,000 after acquiring an additional 413,012 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the third quarter worth approximately $3,711,000. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its position in Barrick Gold by 330.5% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 99,240 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $1,974,000 after buying an additional 76,186 shares during the period. Finally, Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH increased its position in Barrick Gold by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH now owns 1,460,000 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $22,630,000 after buying an additional 720,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company's stock.

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.