Barrick Gold Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 80,224 call options on the company. This is an increase of 33% compared to the average daily volume of 60,145 call options.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Shares of GOLD opened at $19.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Barrick Gold has a 12 month low of $13.76 and a 12 month high of $19.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.51.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 4.88% and a net margin of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. Barrick Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 628.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 175.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOLD. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

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.