Barrick Gold Corp (GOLD) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 28th

Barrick Gold Corp (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the gold and copper producer on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th.

Barrick Gold has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.6% per year over the last three years. Barrick Gold has a dividend payout ratio of 23.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Barrick Gold to earn $1.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.8%.

Barrick Gold Stock Performance

Barrick Gold stock opened at $18.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.21. The stock has a market cap of $31.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $14.27 and a 1-year high of $21.35.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) (TSE:ABX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.46. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 16.59%. On average, analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Barrick Gold announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the gold and copper producer to repurchase up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOLD. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Barrick Gold from $23.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Barrick Gold from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Cibc World Mkts cut Barrick Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Barrick Gold from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Barrick Gold from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrick Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.75.

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.