B2Gold (TSE:BTO) Shares Up 4% - Should You Buy?

B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO - Get Free Report) NYSE: BTG shares rose 4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$4.68 and last traded at C$4.65. Approximately 2,042,572 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 3,875,419 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$4.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BTO. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of B2Gold from C$7.00 to C$6.50 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Cormark cut B2Gold from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities lowered B2Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank upgraded B2Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered B2Gold from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, B2Gold presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$5.94.

B2Gold Stock Down 1.3 %

The company's fifty day simple moving average is C$4.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$3.99. The company has a quick ratio of 3.33, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.51. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.24 billion, a PE ratio of -5.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.23.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. B2Gold's payout ratio is -25.32%.

Insider Transactions at B2Gold

In related news, Director Clive Thomas Johnson sold 86,496 shares of B2Gold stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.85, for a total value of C$333,009.60. Also, Director Jerry Korpan sold 120,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$4.63, for a total transaction of C$555,600.00. Insiders have sold a total of 535,145 shares of company stock valued at $2,191,177 in the last ninety days. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.