B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,908,795 shares of the company’s stock after selling 518,534 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.68% of B2Gold worth $21,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in B2Gold by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 163,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 27,720 shares during the period. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 269,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 19,709 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,192,000. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,947,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,751,000 after purchasing an additional 305,000 shares during the period. 61.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BTG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cormark cut shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America cut 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. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.12.

B2Gold Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of BTG opened at $2.65 on Monday. B2Gold Corp. has a twelve month low of $2.20 and a twelve month high of $3.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.52, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $2.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.83.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.67%.

B2Gold Profile

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.