Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Shares Up 5.1% After Dividend Announcement

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX)’s stock price traded up 5.1% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $18.23 and last traded at $17.94. 9,745,724 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 19,926,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.07.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 43.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GOLD shares. CIBC cut shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lowered Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.83.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 6.5 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.65.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold Corp will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the gold and copper producer to purchase up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 valued at $996,802,000 after buying an additional 9,598,292 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 221.1% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,027,811 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $199,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,904,934 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Barrick Gold by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,431,497 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $227,524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,854,055 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,650,999 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $169,261,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603,744 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new position in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth about $33,726,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently 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.