Legal & General Group Plc Sells 149,965 Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,388,545 shares of the company's stock after selling 149,965 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.18% of B2Gold worth $5,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in B2Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 176.1% in the 4th 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 period. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of B2Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Carrera Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of B2Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in B2Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company's stock.

B2Gold Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BTG traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.10. 19,341,081 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,580,993. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of -6.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.93. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $2.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.83. B2Gold Corp. has a 12-month low of $2.20 and a 12-month high of $3.51.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. B2Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BTG. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Cormark upgraded shares of B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Securities cut B2Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $4.50 price target on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.21.

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.