B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

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

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of B2Gold from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank lowered shares of B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 17th. Cormark lowered shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $3.75 target price on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of B2Gold by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 166,079,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,312,000 after buying an additional 47,967,010 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,158,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,824,000 after purchasing an additional 282,070 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,053,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474,553 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,450,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 6,032,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Trading Up 2.2 %

BTG stock opened at $3.42 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of -113.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.74. B2Gold has a 12 month low of $2.34 and a 12 month high of $3.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.09.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $492.57 million during the quarter. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 7.44% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. As a group, equities analysts predict that B2Gold will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -533.33%.

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.