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

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.12.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $670,000. 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 during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,636,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 133.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,977,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131,534 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in B2Gold by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 36,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Stock Performance

Shares of BTG opened at $2.49 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $2.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.45, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.08. B2Gold has a 12-month low of $2.34 and a 12-month high of $3.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $448.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.28 million. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 38.42% and a positive return on equity of 7.53%. B2Gold’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that B2Gold will post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

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

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.