B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) Declares $0.04 Quarterly Dividend

B2Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 7th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.04 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, September 29th. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 20th.

B2Gold has raised its dividend payment by an average of 152.0% annually over the last three years. B2Gold has a dividend payout ratio of 51.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect B2Gold to earn $0.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.5%.

B2Gold Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN:BTG opened at $3.20 on Tuesday. B2Gold has a fifty-two week low of $2.81 and a fifty-two week high of $4.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.96.

B2Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:BTG) (TSE:BTO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07. B2Gold had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 15.59%. The company had revenue of $470.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.34 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 4.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,343,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,757,000 after buying an additional 103,507 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in B2Gold by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 199,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 24,045 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in B2Gold by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 577,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 30,187 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of B2Gold by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 39,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 9,229 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 52.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 26,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 9,250 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BTG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of B2Gold from C$8.00 to C$7.75 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $4.25 price target on shares of B2Gold in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, TheStreet cut B2Gold from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, June 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.42.

About B2Gold

B2Gold Corp. operates as a gold producer with three operating mines in Mali, the Philippines, and Namibia. It operates the Fekola Mine in Mali, the Masbate Mine in the Philippines, and the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia. The company also has an 25% interest in the Calibre Mining Corp.; and approximately 19% interest in BeMetals Corp.