Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) Sees Large Volume Increase - Here's What Happened

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 2,296,716 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 42% from the previous session's volume of 1,617,036 shares.The stock last traded at $18.94 and had previously closed at $18.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on B shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Barrick Gold in a report on Monday, May 12th. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Barrick Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 1.1%

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $19.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.77. The firm has a market cap of $33.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Barrick Gold's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.08%.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 76,299,834 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,182,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,861,295 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,337,012,000 after acquiring an additional 502,762 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 136.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $516,055,000 after acquiring an additional 19,189,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 17,950,892 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $348,479,000 after purchasing an additional 275,015 shares during the last quarter. 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.