On May 18, 2023 at 11:22:42 ET an unusually large $296.25K block of Call contracts in Barrick Gold (GOLD) was sold, with a strike price of $17.00 / share, expiring in 246 day(s) (on January 19, 2024). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 2.22 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 98.69th percentile of all recent large trades made in GOLD options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Options Flow tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 1096 funds or institutions reporting positions in Barrick Gold. This is a decrease of 1 owner(s) or 0.09% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to GOLD is 0.59%, an increase of 11.78%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 0.86% to 1,232,049K shares. The put/call ratio of GOLD is 0.55, indicating a bullish outlook.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 26.29% Upside

As of May 11, 2023, the average one-year price target for Barrick Gold is 23.28. The forecasts range from a low of 17.17 to a high of $29.40. The average price target represents an increase of 26.29% from its latest reported closing price of 18.43.

See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.

The projected annual revenue for Barrick Gold is 11,566MM. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is 0.78.

What are Other Shareholders Doing?

Van Eck Associates holds 76,909K shares representing 4.38% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 81,780K shares, representing a decrease of 6.33%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in GOLD by 10.42% over the last quarter.

GDX – VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF holds 70,706K shares representing 4.03% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 64,407K shares, representing an increase of 8.91%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in GOLD by 4.64% over the last quarter.

Capital World Investors holds 48,798K shares representing 2.78% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 26,068K shares, representing an increase of 46.58%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in GOLD by 96.13% over the last quarter.

First Eagle Investment Management holds 42,322K shares representing 2.41% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 42,274K shares, representing an increase of 0.11%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in GOLD by 3.95% over the last quarter.

Royal Bank Of Canada holds 40,801K shares representing 2.32% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 40,845K shares, representing a decrease of 0.11%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in GOLD by 88.41% over the last quarter.

Barrick Gold Declares $0.10 Dividend

On May 3, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share ($0.40 annualized). Shareholders of record as of May 31, 2023 will receive the payment on June 15, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.10 per share.

At the current share price of $18.43 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 2.17%.

Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 2.30%, the lowest has been 1.35%, and the highest has been 4.10%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.60 (n=235).

The current dividend yield is 0.21 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 6.16. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company has not increased its dividend in the last three years.

Barrick Gold Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Barrick Gold Corporation is a mining company that produces gold and copper with 16 operating sites in 13 countries. Barrick has mining operations in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Zambia. The company was founded in 1983, and is headquartered in Toronto.

This article originally appeared on Fintel