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

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 83,644 call options on the company. This is an increase of 80% compared to the typical daily volume of 46,363 call options.

Institutional Trading of Barrick Gold

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GOLD. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Barrick Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 198.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,407 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Barrick Gold during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barrick Gold by 451.7% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,909 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 619.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,073 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

Barrick Gold Price Performance

GOLD stock traded up $1.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.33. The company had a trading volume of 26,157,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,564,631. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.18 and a 200 day moving average of $18.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Barrick Gold has a fifty-two week low of $13.76 and a fifty-two week high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued 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 net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 5.82%. As a group, research analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrick Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is currently 43.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOLD has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank downgraded Barrick Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.83.

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.