Short Interest in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Grows By 20.1%

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,833,200 shares, an increase of 20.1% from the August 15th total of 14,012,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,244,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOLD. Scotiabank upped their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Argus raised Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.30.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of GOLD traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.84. The company had a trading volume of 16,558,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,401,004. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 3.01. The company has a market capitalization of $36.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold has a 52 week low of $13.76 and a 52 week high of $21.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $18.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.45.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 5.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.10 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 48.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GOLD. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Barrick Gold in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 175.6% during the fourth 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. purchased a new position in Barrick Gold in the second quarter worth $32,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.