B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Trading 7% Higher After Dividend Announcement

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was up 7% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $2.85 and last traded at $2.85. Approximately 10,252,576 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 27,136,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.66.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s payout ratio is -33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BTG shares. StockNews.com downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. CIBC cut their price objective on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Cormark raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, B2Gold has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.02.

B2Gold Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -5.88, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTG. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new stake in B2Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in B2Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in B2Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in B2Gold by 176.1% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in B2Gold during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.