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

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.12.

Several research firms recently commented on BTG. Bank of America lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. CIBC lifted their price target on B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Cormark upgraded B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTG. Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in B2Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $670,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,862,000 after buying an additional 438,399 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of B2Gold in the third quarter valued at about $2,636,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of B2Gold by 46.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,075,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,544,000 after buying an additional 661,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in B2Gold by 62.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 36,555 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Trading Down 9.1 %

B2Gold stock opened at $2.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of -6.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09. B2Gold has a 12 month low of $2.20 and a 12 month high of $3.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.84. 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 Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.67%.

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.