D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Position in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,800,628 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 446,601 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.67% of B2Gold worth $21,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTG. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in B2Gold by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,933 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 5,288 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in B2Gold by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 237,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 7,990 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in B2Gold by 176.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. bought a new stake in B2Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in B2Gold by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 10,373 shares during the period. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cormark upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $4.50 target price 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, B2Gold presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $4.21.

B2Gold Trading Up 1.4%

BTG stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $2.94. 50,743,304 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,845,200. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $3.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of -6.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.43. B2Gold Corp. has a one year low of $2.20 and a one year high of $3.51.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business earned $0.06 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. B2Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.02%.

B2Gold 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.