Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Gap Down to $17.37

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $17.37, but opened at $16.79. Barrick Gold shares last traded at $16.35, with a volume of 9,937,563 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOLD shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Barrick Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Barrick Gold in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.05.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 5.1 %

The business's 50-day moving average price is $15.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.58.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 4.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Barrick Gold Corp will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.074 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Barrick Gold's payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOLD. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 100,680,644 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,821,963,000 after purchasing an additional 37,128,653 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 80,933,517 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,464,070,000 after purchasing an additional 7,150,142 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,671,495 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $1,151,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,710 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,479,229 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $821,790,000 after purchasing an additional 6,417,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Barrick Gold by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 44,681,411 shares of the gold and copper producer's stock valued at $808,287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,680,178 shares during the last quarter. 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.