Barrick Gold (GOLD) closed the most recent trading day at $29.99, making no change from the previous trading session. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.46%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.13%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.25%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the gold and copper mining company had lost 0.17% over the past month. This has lagged the Basic Materials sector’s gain of 4.87% and the S&P 500’s gain of 1% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from GOLD as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.27, up 80% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $3.03 billion, up 12.99% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.92 per share and revenue of $12.21 billion. These totals would mark changes of +80.39% and +25.62%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for GOLD. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.16% higher within the past month. GOLD is currently a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that GOLD has a Forward P/E ratio of 32.7 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 26.92, so we one might conclude that GOLD is trading at a premium comparatively.
Also, we should mention that GOLD has a PEG ratio of 16.35. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. GOLD’s industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.12 as of yesterday’s close.
The Mining – Gold industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 78, putting it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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