Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Holdings in B2Gold Corp. $BTG

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in B2Gold Corp. by 39.8%, selling 487,971 shares and owning 739,577 shares worth approximately $2.12 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• B2Gold has recently faced mixed ratings from analysts, with Zacks Research downgrading the stock from "strong-buy" to "hold", while other firms like Wall Street Zen upgraded it to a "buy".
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.0%, to be paid on September 23rd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 39.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 739,577 shares of the company's stock after selling 487,971 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.06% of B2Gold worth $2,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BTG. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 154,282 shares of the company's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 18,974 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 720,529 shares of the company's stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 135,948 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,389,363 shares of the company's stock worth $59,510,000 after purchasing an additional 130,638 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 109.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 50,467 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 26,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,285,000. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company's stock.

B2Gold Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of BTG traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $4.04. The company had a trading volume of 24,326,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,353,348. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $3.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.39. B2Gold Corp. has a 52-week low of $2.20 and a 52-week high of $4.10.

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 positive return on equity of 5.65% and a negative net margin of 33.12%.The business's revenue was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. B2Gold's payout ratio is currently -22.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.