B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Sets New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• B2Gold Corp. shares reached a new 52-week high, trading at $3.83, with over 24 million shares exchanged during the session.
• Several analysts upgraded their ratings for B2Gold, with Scotiabank moving it from "hold" to "strong-buy" and CIBC raising its price target to $4.00.
• B2Gold recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.1% and a payout ratio of -17.02%.

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $3.83 and last traded at $3.80, with a volume of 24081521 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BTG shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. CIBC restated a "neutral" rating and set a $4.00 price objective (up previously from $3.60) on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cormark raised shares of B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $4.31.

B2Gold Price Performance

The company's fifty day moving average is $3.57 and its 200 day moving average is $3.12. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of -8.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.39.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 33.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.65%. B2Gold's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 11th were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 11th. B2Gold's payout ratio is -17.02%.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pale Fire Capital SE boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 23.7% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 64,838,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,789,000 after acquiring an additional 12,419,383 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in B2Gold in the first quarter worth about $24,949,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in B2Gold by 181.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,158,787 shares of the company's stock worth $23,253,000 after acquiring an additional 5,262,266 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in B2Gold by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,987,385 shares of the company's stock worth $39,009,000 after acquiring an additional 3,939,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in B2Gold by 17.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,524,336 shares of the company's stock worth $75,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,865,565 shares in the last quarter. 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.

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