Barrick Gold Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 72,972 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 46% compared to the typical daily volume of 50,117 call options.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 62.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOLD has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Barrick Gold in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.05.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

NYSE GOLD opened at $17.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.16. The stock has a market cap of $31.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.15. Barrick Gold has a 52-week low of $13.76 and a 52-week high of $20.75.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.074 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.56%.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

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.