National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stake in B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,177,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,064,751 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in B2Gold were worth $16,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of B2Gold by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 92,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of B2Gold by 13.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 58,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 6,848 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 7,730 shares during the last quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 38,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 7,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of B2Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Trading Up 0.8 %

BTG stock opened at $2.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 128.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.16. B2Gold Corp. has a 12-month low of $2.34 and a 12-month high of $4.29.

B2Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $461.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $453.81 million. B2Gold had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 0.31%. B2Gold’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.25%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 400.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BTG. CIBC downgraded shares of B2Gold from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $4.20 to $3.60 in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on B2Gold in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3.50 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on B2Gold from $4.00 to $3.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, B2Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.10.

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.