Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Barrick Gold Co. (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$30.18.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABX. Argus raised Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eight Capital lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from C$36.00 to C$38.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from C$31.00 to C$33.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Barrick Gold stock opened at C$27.49 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$26.61 and its 200-day moving average is C$24.48. The firm has a market capitalization of C$48.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54. Barrick Gold has a 12-month low of C$18.65 and a 12-month high of C$28.67.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The basic materials company reported C$0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.36 by C$0.08. The company had revenue of C$4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.12 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 7.20% and a net margin of 12.78%. Equities analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 2.28798 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.138 per share. This represents a $0.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from Barrick Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrick Gold

In other news, Director Christopher Lewis Coleman sold 121,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$28.10, for a total transaction of C$3,409,485.40. In other Barrick Gold news, Senior Officer Joel James Holliday sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$27.36, for a total transaction of C$547,298.10. Also, Director Christopher Lewis Coleman sold 121,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$28.10, for a total transaction of C$3,409,485.40. Insiders sold 235,334 shares of company stock worth $5,741,477 over the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.