Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Down 1.3% - What's Next?

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX fell 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $19.12 and last traded at $19.14. 4,535,716 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 21,543,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 5th. National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.86.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The company's revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Barrick Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 483,613 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $9,630,000 after purchasing an additional 80,366 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,073,717 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $78,637,000 after acquiring an additional 128,203 shares in the last quarter. Crocodile Capital Partners GmbH boosted 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 purchasing an additional 720,000 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 278,717 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock worth $4,320,000 after buying an additional 17,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $1,240,000. Institutional investors 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.

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