B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) Cut to Hold at Cibc World Mkts

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Cibc World Mkts from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on BTG. Cormark downgraded B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $3.75 price objective on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 17th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of B2Gold from $3.50 to $4.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.78.

B2Gold Stock Performance

NYSE BTG opened at $3.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -110.30, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 1.74. B2Gold has a 52-week low of $2.34 and a 52-week high of $3.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.89.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $492.57 million for the quarter. B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 8.01% and a negative net margin of 7.44%. As a group, analysts forecast that B2Gold will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On B2Gold

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BTG. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in B2Gold by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,158,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,824,000 after acquiring an additional 282,070 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 39.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,053,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474,553 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of B2Gold by 80.0% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,450,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,957,000 after buying an additional 3,311,970 shares in the last quarter. Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,450,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in B2Gold during the second quarter valued at $6,912,000. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.