Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Invests $278,000 in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 97,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $278,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in B2Gold by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 5,288 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in B2Gold by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 237,696 shares of the company's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 7,990 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in B2Gold by 176.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,935 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new stake in B2Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position in B2Gold by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,047 shares of the company's stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 10,373 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BTG shares. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. CIBC upped 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. Finally, Cormark upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, B2Gold presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $4.21.

B2Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTG traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $3.57. 38,631,496 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,623,520. B2Gold Corp. has a 1 year low of $2.20 and a 1 year high of $3.83. The company has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.44, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.45. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $3.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.98.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 11th. B2Gold's payout ratio is -17.02%.

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.