Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) Short Interest Up 20.1% in August

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,833,200 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the August 15th total of 14,012,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 20,244,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GOLD. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Barrick Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Barrick Gold during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Barrick Gold by 175.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,794 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Barrick Gold by 628.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the gold and copper producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Barrick Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. 62.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Barrick Gold stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.47. The stock had a trading volume of 12,492,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,316,582. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 3.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.51. Barrick Gold has a 1 year low of $13.76 and a 1 year high of $21.13. The stock has a market cap of $35.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.55.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Barrick Gold will post 1.22 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Barrick Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus raised Barrick Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.30.

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.