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

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)’s stock price was up 7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $2.85 and last traded at $2.85. Approximately 10,252,576 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily 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 given 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 dividend yield of 2.84%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BTG. TD Securities lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Cormark upgraded B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, CIBC lowered their target price on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.02.

B2Gold Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $2.50 and its 200-day moving average price 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 Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in B2Gold in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in B2Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in B2Gold by 176.1% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.