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

Key Points

• B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with varying recommendations including one sell, four hold, two buy, and one strong buy.
• Institutional investors own 61.40% of B2Gold, with notable increases in holdings by Norges Bank, Pale Fire Capital, and Goldman Sachs Group.
• B2Gold recently declared a $0.02 quarterly dividend, yielding 2.4%, and reported quarterly earnings of $0.09 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.3125.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Cormark raised B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial raised B2Gold to a "moderate buy" rating and set a $4.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, June 30th. CIBC reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (up from $3.60) on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank raised B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th.

B2Gold Price Performance

Shares of BTG stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.55. 11,818,026 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 42,681,141. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $3.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.10. B2Gold has a fifty-two week low of $2.20 and a fifty-two week high of $3.83.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 5.65% and a negative net margin of 33.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. B2Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 64,838,409 shares of the company's stock worth $184,789,000 after purchasing an additional 12,419,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of B2Gold by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,099,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,501 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,186,655 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,335,000 after purchasing an additional 272,300 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 17.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,524,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,865,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,389,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,510,000 after purchasing an additional 130,638 shares in the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.