Pale Fire Capital SE Raises Stake in B2Gold Corp. $BTG

Key Points

• Pale Fire Capital SE increased its stake in B2Gold Corp. by 23.7% in Q1, holding approximately 64.8 million shares, making it the firm's second-largest position.
• B2Gold recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, which will be paid on September 23rd, indicating a 2.0% yield for investors.
• The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the last quarter, just shy of analyst estimates, with a projected 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pale Fire Capital SE increased its position in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 23.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,838,409 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,419,383 shares during the period. B2Gold comprises about 22.0% of Pale Fire Capital SE's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Pale Fire Capital SE owned about 4.91% of B2Gold worth $184,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,099,978 shares of the company's stock worth $153,752,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,501 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in B2Gold by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,524,336 shares of the company's stock worth $75,435,000 after buying an additional 3,865,565 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in B2Gold by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,389,363 shares of the company's stock worth $59,510,000 after acquiring an additional 130,638 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in B2Gold by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 20,675,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,520 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in B2Gold by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,791,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,804,209 shares during the period. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

B2Gold Stock Down 0.5%

B2Gold stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $4.04. The stock had a trading volume of 23,498,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,353,324. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a PE ratio of -8.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.39. B2Gold Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $2.20 and a fifty-two week high of $4.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $3.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.83.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). B2Gold had a negative net margin of 33.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 40.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. B2Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently -22.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BTG. Zacks Research cut shares of B2Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial raised B2Gold to a "moderate buy" rating and set a $4.50 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, June 30th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, CIBC reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $4.00 target price (up previously from $3.60) on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, B2Gold has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.31.

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.