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

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.12.

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

B2Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTG opened at $2.49 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of -4.45, a P/E/G 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last posted 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 company had revenue of $448.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $449.28 million. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 38.42% and a positive return on equity of 7.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that B2Gold will post 0.23 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BTG. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in B2Gold by 40.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 166,079,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,312,000 after acquiring an additional 47,967,010 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,862,000 after purchasing an additional 438,399 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in B2Gold by 66.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 17,875,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,058,000 after purchasing an additional 7,165,600 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in B2Gold by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,158,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,824,000 after purchasing an additional 282,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in B2Gold by 39.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,053,000 after buying an additional 3,474,553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Company Profile

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.