Royal Bank of Canada Raises B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Price Target to $3.75

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) had its price target raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $3.50 to $3.75 in a report published on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

BTG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded B2Gold from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, August 17th. Cormark downgraded shares of B2Gold from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank lowered B2Gold from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on B2Gold from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of B2Gold from $3.40 to $3.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $3.75.

B2Gold Price Performance

Shares of BTG opened at $3.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.83. B2Gold has a 12-month low of $2.34 and a 12-month high of $3.46. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of -103.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.14.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $492.57 million for the quarter. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 7.44% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.18%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is -533.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BTG. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in B2Gold by 39.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,053,000 after acquiring an additional 3,474,553 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in B2Gold by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,450,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,957,000 after acquiring an additional 3,311,970 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in B2Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,912,000. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of B2Gold by 31.6% in the second quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC now owns 6,032,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in B2Gold by 133.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 1,977,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,334,000 after buying an additional 1,131,534 shares during the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.