B2Gold Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 14,078 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 257% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,947 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities lowered B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Cormark raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. CIBC upped their target price on B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in B2Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in B2Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in B2Gold by 176.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 8,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new stake in B2Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 61.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

B2Gold Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of B2Gold stock opened at $3.21 on Friday. B2Gold has a fifty-two week low of $2.20 and a fifty-two week high of $3.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of -6.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.