B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.83.

Several research firms have weighed in on BTG. Scotiabank lowered their target price on B2Gold from C$8.00 to C$7.75 in a report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of B2Gold in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. National Bank Financial lifted their target price on shares of B2Gold from C$7.25 to C$7.75 in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of B2Gold from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, June 16th.

B2Gold Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BTG opened at $3.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.80. B2Gold has a twelve month low of $2.81 and a twelve month high of $4.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.96.

B2Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07. The company had revenue of $470.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $463.73 million. B2Gold had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 15.59%. B2Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that B2Gold will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th were issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 15th. B2Gold’s payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BTG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in B2Gold by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,343,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,757,000 after purchasing an additional 103,507 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 13.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 199,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 24,045 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of B2Gold by 5.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 577,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after buying an additional 30,187 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 39,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 9,229 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its position in B2Gold by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 26,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 9,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.52% of the company’s stock.

About B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer with three operating mines in Mali, the Philippines, and Namibia. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 25% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp.