B2Gold (TSE:BTO) Stock Price Up 3.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO) (NYSE:BTG) rose 3.7% on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from C$6.50 to C$7.50. The company traded as high as C$4.83 and last traded at C$4.76. Approximately 2,662,797 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 3,931,418 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$4.59.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BTO. Cormark cut B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Scotiabank raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities cut shares of B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of B2Gold from C$7.00 to C$6.50 in a report on Monday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$6.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Clive Thomas Johnson sold 86,496 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.85, for a total value of C$333,009.60. Also, Senior Officer Eduard Bartz sold 13,161 shares of B2Gold stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.79, for a total transaction of C$49,880.19. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$60.64. This trade represents a 99.88 % decrease in their position. In the last quarter, insiders sold 535,145 shares of company stock valued at $2,191,177. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

B2Gold Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$4.13 and a 200 day moving average of C$3.99. The stock has a market cap of C$4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.34, a PEG ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 3.33.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently -25.32%.

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.