Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 91,114 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 73% compared to the typical daily volume of 52,519 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOLD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded Barrick Gold to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Barrick Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 5th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $23.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.05.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of GOLD traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.43. The company had a trading volume of 17,808,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,518,060. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $33.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $15.11 and a 1-year high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD - Get Free Report) TSE: ABX last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 6.76%. Research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Barrick Gold's payout ratio is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

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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