Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$30.17.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from C$37.00 to C$36.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a C$34.00 price target on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Barrick Gold to C$21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Poupak Bahamin acquired 5,778 shares of Barrick Gold stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$25.03 per share, with a total value of C$144,645.87. Also, Director Dennis Mark Bristow bought 85,296 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$25.03 per share, with a total value of C$2,135,291.53. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

TSE:ABX opened at C$22.60 on Friday. Barrick Gold has a 52-week low of C$18.65 and a 52-week high of C$29.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is C$24.92 and its 200 day moving average is C$25.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 3.01. The firm has a market cap of C$39.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 45.38%.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

Barrick Gold Corporation engages in the exploration, mine development, production, and sale of gold and copper properties in Canada and internationally. The company also explores and sells silver and energy materials. It has ownership interests in producing gold mines located in Argentina, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Mali, Tanzania, and the United States.