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

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 81,124 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average daily volume of 56,155 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Clarius Group LLC purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the third quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Golden State Equity Partners purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the third quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the third quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 2.1% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 325,533 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $4,731,000 after acquiring an additional 6,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in Barrick Gold by 5.3% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 13,714 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOLD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, March 4th. National Bank Financial reaffirmed a “sector perform overweight” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Barrick Gold in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.06.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of GOLD traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $16.64. 30,826,022 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,117,107. The company has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Barrick Gold has a 52 week low of $13.76 and a 52 week high of $20.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.34.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Barrick Gold had a net margin of 11.16% and a return on equity of 4.64%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Barrick Gold will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.074 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 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.