Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Issues Earnings Results

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46, Zacks reports. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%.

Barrick Gold Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE GOLD traded down $0.30 on Friday, hitting $18.14. 7,481,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,065,924. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. Barrick Gold has a twelve month low of $14.25 and a twelve month high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is presently 43.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOLD shares. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $37.00 to $38.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $23.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.67.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.