B2Gold (TSE:BTO) Trading 5.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO) (NYSE:BTG)’s stock price rose 5.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$4.59 and last traded at C$4.51. Approximately 2,373,042 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 3,864,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$4.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BTO. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on B2Gold from C$7.00 to C$6.50 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report 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, Cormark lowered shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$5.94.

B2Gold Price Performance

The company has a market cap of C$4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.15, a PEG ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$4.03 and its 200 day moving average price is C$3.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.51.

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 given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. B2Gold’s payout ratio is currently -25.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory Barnes purchased 50,000 shares of B2Gold stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$4.07 per share, for a total transaction of C$203,500.00. Also, Senior Officer Randall Chatwin sold 30,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$4.17, for a total value of C$125,725.50. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 415,145 shares of company stock worth $1,635,577. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.