Raymond James Raises Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Price Target to $23.50

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Raymond James from $23.00 to $23.50 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock. Raymond James’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.45% from the stock’s current price.

GOLD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stifel Canada raised Barrick Gold to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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 research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Barrick Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.71.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $19.67 on Monday. Barrick Gold has a 52-week low of $15.11 and a 52-week 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.01. The company has a market capitalization of $33.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Barrick Gold announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chelsea Counsel Co. lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,973 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group increased its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 56,394 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $874,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 55.8% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,193 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,051 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 285,355 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $4,423,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.