Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) Downgraded to "Buy" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

B stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.59. The stock had a trading volume of 30,553,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,851,953. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold has a 52 week low of $17.41 and a 52 week high of $47.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.97.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 535,002 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $10,385,000 after acquiring an additional 69,876 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 1st quarter valued at $342,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,144,340 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $99,867,000 after purchasing an additional 70,623 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 47,544 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 1st quarter valued at $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.82% 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.