Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG)

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) by 53.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,184,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,528,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in B2Gold were worth $5,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BTG. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of B2Gold by 142.9% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 27,216,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,360,000 after buying an additional 16,011,832 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of B2Gold by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 25,787 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 6,174 shares in the last quarter. Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of B2Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in B2Gold by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 151,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 9,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of B2Gold by 321.4% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 595,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after acquiring an additional 454,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, B2Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $4.57.

B2Gold Stock Performance

B2Gold stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.91. The stock had a trading volume of 5,515,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,381,353. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of -97.13, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10. B2Gold Corp. has a twelve month low of $2.34 and a twelve month high of $3.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

B2Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.01. B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 8.05% and a negative net margin of 2.10%. The company had revenue of $461.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $453.81 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th were issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 11th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently -533.16%.

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.