B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Trading Up 7% After Dividend Announcement

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)’s stock price traded up 7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $2.85 and last traded at $2.85. 10,252,576 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 27,136,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.66.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BTG. CIBC dropped their price objective on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Cormark raised shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.02.

B2Gold Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -5.88, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B2Gold

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in B2Gold by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 166,079,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,312,000 after acquiring an additional 47,967,010 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the fourth quarter valued at $40,192,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 66.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 17,875,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,058,000 after purchasing an additional 7,165,600 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in B2Gold by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 22,658,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,436,000 after buying an additional 5,401,334 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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. 61.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.