Pale Fire Capital SE Boosts 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 B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 23.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,838,409 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,419,383 shares during the quarter. B2Gold accounts for 22.0% of Pale Fire Capital SE's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Pale Fire Capital SE owned about 4.91% of B2Gold worth $184,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in B2Gold in the first quarter valued at approximately $24,949,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 17.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,524,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,865,565 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 577.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,519,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,028,000 after acquiring an additional 3,852,095 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 23.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in B2Gold by 62.8% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 7,499,738 shares of the company's stock worth $21,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,891,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company's stock.

B2Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:BTG traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $4.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,988,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,212,051. 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 $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.59, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $3.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.28. B2Gold Corp. has a 12-month low of $2.20 and a 12-month high of $4.14.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. B2Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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