B2Gold Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BTG)

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 6,996 call options on the company. This is an increase of 147% compared to the average volume of 2,829 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B2Gold

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 21,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 3,053 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its position in B2Gold by 53.6% during the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,311,970 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its position in B2Gold by 546.4% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 374,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 316,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in B2Gold by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 203,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 18,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

B2Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BTG opened at $3.33 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.85. B2Gold has a 52 week low of $2.34 and a 52 week high of $3.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of -111.00, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.14.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $492.57 million during the quarter. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 7.44% and a positive return on equity of 8.01%. As a group, research analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently -533.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank downgraded B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on B2Gold from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on B2Gold from $3.50 to $3.75 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $3.75.

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.