B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.12.

Several research firms have commented on BTG. Bank of America lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities lowered B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. CIBC boosted their price target on B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Cormark cut shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BTG. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,957,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,243,000 after purchasing an additional 143,663 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of B2Gold by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,701,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,819,000 after acquiring an additional 251,045 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,862,000 after acquiring an additional 438,399 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of B2Gold by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 36,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of B2Gold in the third quarter valued at about $2,008,000. 61.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

B2Gold Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:BTG opened at $2.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.08, 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 has a 12 month low of $2.20 and a 12 month high of $3.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.84.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. B2Gold’s payout ratio is -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.