Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday . 5,449,088 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 174% from the previous session’s volume of 1,985,581 shares.The stock last traded at $19.95 and had previously closed at $20.32.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities cut 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on Barrick Gold from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Barrick Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.32.

Barrick Gold Stock 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 $34.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.84.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:B) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.08%.

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

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Barrick Gold by 136.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,293,792 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $516,055,000 after buying an additional 19,189,830 shares in the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $172,225,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,310,800 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $996,802,000 after purchasing an additional 9,598,292 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Barrick Gold by 236.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,815,946 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $105,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,791,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth $57,991,000. 90.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.