B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 19,885,245 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 17,105,226 shares.The stock last traded at $3.01 and had previously closed at $2.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Cormark raised shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, B2Gold currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.02.

B2Gold Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.81. 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 capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.67%.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BTG. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 5,631,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,386,000 after buying an additional 92,385 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 44,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 9,200 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 69.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,596,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,837,000 after buying an additional 4,754,500 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,957,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,243,000 after buying an additional 143,663 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

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.