B2Gold Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 13,026 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 279% compared to the average volume of 3,436 call options.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTG. Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $670,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,862,000 after acquiring an additional 438,399 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,636,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of B2Gold by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,075,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,544,000 after acquiring an additional 661,107 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of B2Gold by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 36,555 shares during the period. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

B2Gold Stock Performance

Shares of BTG stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $3.24. 52,448,154 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,249,839. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of -6.76, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09. B2Gold has a twelve month low of $2.20 and a twelve month high of $3.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lowered B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. CIBC lowered their price target on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Cormark raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.02.

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.