Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Scotiabank

Scotiabank downgraded shares of Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ABX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Barrick Gold from C$33.50 to C$30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. National Bankshares cut their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from C$26.00 to C$24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Barrick Gold to C$21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$30.38.

Barrick Gold Stock Down 1.0 %

ABX stock opened at C$22.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$23.43 and a 200-day moving average price of C$25.20. Barrick Gold has a 12 month low of C$18.65 and a 12 month high of C$29.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.54. The stock has a market capitalization of C$39.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.48.

Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) (NYSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported C$0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.45 by C($0.03). Barrick Gold had a net margin of 12.78% and a return on equity of 7.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Barrick Gold will post 2.2422764 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Barrick Gold’s payout ratio is 45.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis Mark Bristow bought 85,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$25.03 per share, with a total value of C$2,135,291.53. Also, Senior Officer Poupak Bahamin purchased 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$25.03 per share, for a total transaction of C$144,645.87. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Barrick Gold Company Profile

Barrick Gold Corporation engages in the exploration, mine development, production, and sale of gold and copper properties in Canada and internationally. The company also explores and sells silver and energy materials. It has ownership interests in producing gold mines located in Argentina, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Dominican Republic, Mali, Tanzania, and the United States.