B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) Position Boosted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 663,363 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,395 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in B2Gold were worth $1,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of B2Gold during the third quarter worth about $670,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,862,000 after purchasing an additional 438,399 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of B2Gold during the third quarter worth about $2,636,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in B2Gold by 46.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,075,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,544,000 after acquiring an additional 661,107 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in B2Gold by 62.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 36,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on BTG. Cormark upgraded shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on shares of B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.12.

B2Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTG opened at $3.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.83. B2Gold Corp. has a 52 week low of $2.20 and a 52 week high of $3.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.50, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. B2Gold’s payout ratio is currently -16.67%.

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.