Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Short Interest Update

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,479,900 shares, a drop of 5.2% from the March 15th total of 13,170,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 21,663,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 1.3 %

Barrick Gold stock opened at $16.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.82 and its 200-day moving average is $16.20. Barrick Gold has a fifty-two week low of $13.76 and a fifty-two week high of $20.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 2.40.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 4.64%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.074 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 9,100 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 13,714 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 24,555 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 59,825 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,067 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOLD. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.05.

About Barrick Gold

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.