Jefferies Financial Group Raises Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Price Target to $24.00

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) had its price target boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research report released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the gold and copper producer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GOLD. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an outperformer rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barrick Gold has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $23.30.

Barrick Gold Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:GOLD opened at $20.84 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.47. Barrick Gold has a 12 month low of $13.76 and a 12 month high of $21.13. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 100,680,644 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,821,963,000 after acquiring an additional 37,128,653 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,761,067 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $1,077,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,572 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 58,820,050 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $978,766,000 after buying an additional 14,138,639 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,479,229 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $821,790,000 after purchasing an additional 6,417,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 3.7% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 18,837,028 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $314,254,000 after buying an additional 666,214 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.