B2Gold Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 11,272 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 291% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,886 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E&G Advisors LP acquired a new stake in B2Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in B2Gold by 35.0% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

B2Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTG opened at $2.40 on Friday. B2Gold has a 12 month low of $2.20 and a 12 month high of $3.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $2.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.87.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.03). B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 7.53% and a negative net margin of 38.42%. The company had revenue of $448.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $449.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.05 EPS. B2Gold’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that B2Gold will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. B2Gold’s payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BTG shares. Bank of America cut B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of B2Gold from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com cut B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, CIBC cut their price target on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.02.

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.