Short Interest in Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Grows By 62.0%

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,881,600 shares, a growth of 62.0% from the October 15th total of 11,035,200 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 20,252,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:GOLD traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $16.96. The stock had a trading volume of 6,652,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,317,625. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 2.06. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $13.76 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.48.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 5.82% and a net margin of 13.19%. The business had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOLD. Argus raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.90.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 18,163 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 25,659 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $510,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 64,085 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,890 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,399 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares during the period. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.