Investors Buy High Volume of B2Gold Call Options (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 28,497 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 69% compared to the average volume of 16,844 call options.

B2Gold Stock Up 9.4%

Shares of B2Gold stock opened at $4.17 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of -8.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.44. B2Gold has a 52-week low of $2.20 and a 52-week high of $5.94. 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 (NYSE:BTG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 74.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that B2Gold will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of B2Gold in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. CIBC lowered their price target on shares of B2Gold to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Cormark cut shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of B2Gold from $4.75 to $6.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in B2Gold by 119.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 34,306,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,897,000 after buying an additional 18,703,995 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of B2Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,516,000. Pale Fire Capital SE boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 23.7% during 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. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of B2Gold in the first quarter worth approximately $24,949,000. Finally, Continental General Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.40% 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.