B2Gold Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 6,996 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 147% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,829 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BTG. Cibc World Mkts upgraded B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank lowered shares of B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Cormark downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of B2Gold from $3.50 to $3.75 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $3.75.

B2Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:BTG traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $3.35. The stock had a trading volume of 27,591,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,768,942. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.83. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -111.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.14. B2Gold has a one year low of $2.34 and a one year high of $3.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 2.93.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.02). B2Gold had a negative net margin of 7.44% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. The business had revenue of $492.57 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that B2Gold will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently -533.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTG. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 282,070 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,053,000 after acquiring an additional 3,474,553 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 80.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,450,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311,970 shares during the last quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 31.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in B2Gold in the second quarter valued at $6,912,000. 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.