B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.12.

Several brokerages have commented on BTG. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on B2Gold from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $3.75 price objective on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. CIBC increased their target price on B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th.

B2Gold Stock Performance

B2Gold stock opened at $2.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.45, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.08. B2Gold has a fifty-two week low of $2.34 and a fifty-two week high of $3.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.91.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $448.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.28 million. B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 7.53% and a negative net margin of 38.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that B2Gold will post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of B2Gold during the third quarter worth about $670,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in B2Gold by 0.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,862,000 after buying an additional 438,399 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in B2Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,636,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of B2Gold by 133.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,977,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 36,555 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

About B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer company. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 100% interest in the Gramalote gold project in Colombia; 24% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp.