Barrick Gold Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GOLD)

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 80,224 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 33% compared to the typical daily volume of 60,145 call options.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

GOLD opened at $19.13 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.65. The firm has a market cap of $33.53 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Barrick Gold has a fifty-two week low of $13.76 and a fifty-two week high of $19.45.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 4.88%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Barrick Gold by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,434 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,255 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 3.5% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 25,119 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co raised its position in Barrick Gold by 2.4% during the first quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 36,519 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 4.4% in the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 21,445 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. CIBC lifted their price target on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Barrick Gold from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.20.

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.