Short Interest in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Rises By 34.2%

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 20,404,300 shares, a growth of 34.2% from the November 15th total of 15,209,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 21,546,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of GOLD traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.78. 13,364,270 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,413,570. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.52. Barrick Gold has a 12-month low of $13.76 and a 12-month high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 25.2% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 49,700 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the third quarter valued at $210,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter worth about $517,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,973 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 3.5% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 55,875 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,111,000 after buying an additional 1,875 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOLD shares. Scotiabank cut their target price on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.60.

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.