Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) Upgraded by UBS Group to Buy Rating

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was upgraded by analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday. The firm presently has a $22.00 price target on the gold and copper producer’s stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 23.91% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. CIBC cut Barrick Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

Barrick Gold Stock Up 0.4 %

GOLD opened at $17.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold has a twelve month low of $15.11 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company has a market cap of $30.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.16.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. Sell-side analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to buy up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 1.4% during the third quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 42,973 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $855,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 24.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Group boosted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 56,394 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,051 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

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.