B2Gold (TSE:BTO) Shares Up 4.8% – Still a Buy?

B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO) (NYSE:BTG) rose 4.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$4.00 and last traded at C$3.96. Approximately 2,127,434 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 3,802,260 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$3.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cormark cut shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities lowered B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America downgraded B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on B2Gold from C$7.00 to C$6.50 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$5.94.

B2Gold Trading Up 4.7 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$4.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$3.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.51, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.13 billion, a PE ratio of -5.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.23.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -25.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Eduard Bartz sold 27,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.89, for a total value of C$108,383.18. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$62.24. This represents a 99.94 % decrease in their position. Also, Senior Officer Randall Chatwin sold 30,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$4.17, for a total value of C$125,725.50. Insiders have sold 415,145 shares of company stock valued at $1,635,577 in the last ninety days. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.