B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Trading Up 3.4% – Time to Buy?

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) traded up 3.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $3.26 and last traded at $3.23. 4,967,753 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 18,029,188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BTG has been the subject of several recent research reports. CIBC increased their target price on shares of B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities lowered B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Cormark raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.12.

B2Gold Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.84. 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 $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of -6.44, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is -16.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B2Gold

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,862,000 after purchasing an additional 438,399 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in B2Gold by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,010,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,204 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in B2Gold by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 27,186,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,335,000 after buying an additional 272,300 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in B2Gold by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,389,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,510,000 after buying an additional 130,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of B2Gold by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 22,658,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,436,000 after buying an additional 5,401,334 shares during the period. 61.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.