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

B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 14,078 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 257% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,947 put options.

Institutional Trading of B2Gold

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BTG. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in B2Gold by 69.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,596,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,754,500 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 35.0% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of B2Gold by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,957,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,243,000 after buying an additional 143,663 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,701,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,819,000 after buying an additional 251,045 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in B2Gold by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,862,000 after buying an additional 438,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cormark upgraded B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.12.

B2Gold Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of BTG traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.23. 23,209,341 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,684,180. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. B2Gold has a twelve month low of $2.20 and a twelve month high of $3.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.82. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.09.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.67%.

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.