Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on B2Gold (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 11,272 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 291% compared to the typical volume of 2,886 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on BTG shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on B2Gold from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. CIBC lowered their price objective on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, B2Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.02.

B2Gold Price Performance

BTG traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $2.35. 40,440,273 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,465,225. B2Gold has a 12-month low of $2.20 and a 12-month high of $3.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $2.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.87. 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 company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.09.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $448.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $449.28 million. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 38.42% and a positive return on equity of 7.53%. B2Gold’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B2Gold

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTG. KG&L Capital Management LLC lifted its position in B2Gold by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 146,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 19,700 shares during the last quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 5,677,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,924,000 after buying an additional 45,605 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 525.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 517,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 434,775 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in B2Gold in the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in B2Gold by 26.8% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 105,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 22,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

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.