B2Gold Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 13,026 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 279% compared to the typical volume of 3,436 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. CIBC reduced their price target on shares of B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cormark raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.02.

B2Gold Price Performance

BTG opened at $3.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $2.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.82. 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 $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s payout ratio is -16.67%.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BTG. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its position in B2Gold by 26.1% in the third quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 44,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 9,200 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 69.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,596,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,837,000 after acquiring an additional 4,754,500 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in B2Gold by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in B2Gold by 3.8% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 251,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Company 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.