Citigroup Cuts Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Price Target to $17.00

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its target price trimmed by Citigroup from $21.00 to $17.00 in a report published on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on GOLD. Bank of America lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Canada raised shares of Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD opened at $19.41 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.07 and a 200-day moving average of $18.02. The company has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $15.11 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Equities analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 32.52%.

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 worth $1,182,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,361 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,358,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,060,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,585 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 17.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 136.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $516,055,000 after purchasing an additional 19,189,830 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,318,376 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $237,280,000 after buying an additional 278,292 shares in 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.