Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares boosted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from C$60.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from C$39.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from C$37.00 to C$41.00 in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Scotiabank raised Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Barrick Gold from C$46.00 to C$65.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$46.38.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of TSE ABX opened at C$55.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$47.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$36.44. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of C$21.73 and a 1-year high of C$55.93. The firm has a market cap of C$94.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.18.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The basic materials company reported C$0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$3.41 billion for the quarter. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.90% and a net margin of 13.19%. Analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 2.2422764 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Poupak Bahamin sold 8,402 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$346,269.11. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,211,653.38. This represents a 22.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Joel James Holliday sold 13,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$40.38, for a total transaction of C$548,735.07. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 84,087 shares in the company, valued at C$3,395,752.59. This represents a 13.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 62,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,580,075 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

Barrick Gold Corp is one of the world’s largest gold producers, operating mines in North America, South America, Australia, and Africa. The company segments consist of nine gold mines namely Carlin, Cortez, Turquoise Ridge, Pueblo Viejo, Loulo-Gounkoto, Kibali, Veladero, North Mara, and Bulyanhulu. It generates maximum revenue from the Carlin mine segment.