Cibc World Mkts Downgrades B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) to Hold

Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

BTG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Cormark cut shares of B2Gold from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $3.75 target price on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of B2Gold from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com upgraded B2Gold from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, August 17th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of B2Gold from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $3.78.

B2Gold Stock Performance

Shares of BTG opened at $3.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of -107.00, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.74. B2Gold has a fifty-two week low of $2.34 and a fifty-two week high of $3.46.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $492.57 million for the quarter. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 7.44% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. As a group, research analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th were given a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. B2Gold’s payout ratio is presently -533.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B2Gold

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of B2Gold by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 21,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 3,053 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in B2Gold by 53.6% during the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of B2Gold by 80.0% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,450,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,957,000 after buying an additional 3,311,970 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 546.4% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 374,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 316,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 203,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 18,125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

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.