B2Gold (TSE:BTO) Trading Up 6.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO) (NYSE:BTG) traded up 6.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$4.59 and last traded at C$4.53. 1,163,417 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 3,838,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$4.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BTO shares. Cormark lowered B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America cut B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities cut B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on B2Gold from C$7.00 to C$6.50 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$5.94.

B2Gold Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$4.17 billion, a PE ratio of -5.19, a PEG ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$4.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$3.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.51.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -25.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory Barnes purchased 50,000 shares of B2Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$4.07 per share, for a total transaction of C$203,500.00. Also, Senior Officer Eduard Bartz sold 13,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$3.79, for a total value of C$49,880.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$60.64. The trade was a 99.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last quarter, insiders sold 415,145 shares of company stock worth $1,635,577. Insiders own 0.66% 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.