B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $3.65, but opened at $3.51. B2Gold shares last traded at $3.53, with a volume of 12,404,758 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a report on Tuesday. CIBC increased their target price on shares of B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Cormark raised shares of B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, B2Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $4.21.

B2Gold Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.92. 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 (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 33.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.65%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. B2Gold's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 11th. B2Gold's payout ratio is currently -17.02%.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pale Fire Capital SE lifted its holdings in B2Gold by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 64,838,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,789,000 after purchasing an additional 12,419,383 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 1.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted 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 valued at $75,435,000 after buying an additional 3,865,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,389,363 shares of the company's stock worth $59,510,000 after buying an additional 130,638 shares during the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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