B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Trading Down 3.4% – Here’s Why

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)’s share price was down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $2.80 and last traded at $2.82. Approximately 1,292,599 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 12,647,310 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BTG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $3.75 target price on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on B2Gold from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.12.

B2Gold Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.14.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $448.23 million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.65%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B2Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTG. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in B2Gold by 40.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 166,079,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,312,000 after purchasing an additional 47,967,010 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% in 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. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in B2Gold by 66.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 17,875,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,058,000 after buying an additional 7,165,600 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in B2Gold by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,158,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,824,000 after acquiring an additional 282,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in B2Gold by 39.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,053,000 after acquiring an additional 3,474,553 shares during the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.