First Eagle Investment Management LLC Sells 9,783,826 Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) by 54.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,332,514 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,783,826 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.63% of B2Gold worth $20,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of B2Gold by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,586,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,330,000 after acquiring an additional 15,600 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in B2Gold by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 16,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 5,288 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in B2Gold by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 330,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 23,073 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP grew its position in B2Gold by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 4,213,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,280,000 after purchasing an additional 565,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in B2Gold by 37.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,139,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,215,319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on BTG shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cormark raised shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.02.

B2Gold Stock Up 5.1 %

BTG stock opened at $2.90 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.08. B2Gold Corp. has a 12 month low of $2.20 and a 12 month high of $3.50.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.67%.

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.