B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.94, but opened at $3.04. B2Gold shares last traded at $3.00, with a volume of 4,772,014 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BTG. Bank of America lowered shares of B2Gold from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Scotiabank raised B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $4.50 price objective on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Friday, April 4th. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of B2Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.21.

B2Gold Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.43.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. B2Gold's payout ratio is -16.67%.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Wealth Network Inc. acquired a new stake in B2Gold in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. acquired a new position in B2Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Kercheville Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Walker Asset Management LLC bought a new position in B2Gold during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in B2Gold in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 61.40% of the stock is currently 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.