B2Gold Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 30,908 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 145% compared to the average daily volume of 12,604 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in B2Gold by 58.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 188,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 69,177 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in B2Gold by 99.5% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 22,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in B2Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $95,000. U S Global Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in B2Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,211,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in B2Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $278,000. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

B2Gold Stock Down 9.1%

BTG stock opened at $5.18 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $4.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.80. The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.45. B2Gold has a twelve month low of $2.20 and a twelve month high of $5.94.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last posted its quarterly 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that B2Gold will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 10th. B2Gold’s payout ratio is currently -22.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BTG shares. CIBC increased their price objective on B2Gold from $4.50 to $6.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research downgraded B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on B2Gold from $4.75 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of B2Gold in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.25.

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.