Royal Bank of Canada Reduces Stake in B2Gold Corp. $BTG

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its holdings in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,048,701 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136,917 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.31% of B2Gold worth $11,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its stake in B2Gold by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 64,838,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,789,000 after acquiring an additional 12,419,383 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in B2Gold by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,099,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,501 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in B2Gold by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,524,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,865,565 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in B2Gold by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 20,675,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in B2Gold by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,791,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,804,209 shares during the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BTG shares. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $4.00 price target (up previously from $3.60) on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised B2Gold to a “moderate buy” rating and set a $4.50 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.31.

B2Gold Price Performance

BTG stock opened at $4.45 on Friday. B2Gold Corp. has a 52-week low of $2.20 and a 52-week high of $4.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.39. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.42.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 5.65% and a negative net margin of 33.12%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.86%.

B2Gold 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.