B2Gold Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 17,460 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 142% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,204 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BTG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (up from $3.60) on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of B2Gold to a “moderate buy” rating and set a $4.50 price objective on the stock 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 given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of B2Gold by 577.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,519,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,028,000 after buying an additional 3,852,095 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of B2Gold by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,538,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,395,000 after acquiring an additional 417,070 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of B2Gold by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,282,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,130,000 after acquiring an additional 359,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of B2Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $183,000. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Stock Performance

NYSE:BTG opened at $4.49 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.40. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.35, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.83. B2Gold has a fifty-two week low of $2.20 and a fifty-two week high of $4.55.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). B2Gold had a negative net margin of 33.12% and a positive return on equity of 5.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 40.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that B2Gold will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

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

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.