JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 434,775 Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) by 525.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 517,575 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 434,775 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s holdings in B2Gold were worth $1,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 166,079,133 shares of the company's stock worth $566,312,000 after acquiring an additional 47,967,010 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of B2Gold by 66.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 17,875,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,058,000 after purchasing an additional 7,165,600 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in B2Gold by 69.5% during the third 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. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in B2Gold by 80.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in B2Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,113,000. 61.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

B2Gold Stock Performance

Shares of BTG traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $2.40. The stock had a trading volume of 69,926,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,670,031. B2Gold Corp. has a 52 week low of $2.20 and a 52 week high of $3.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.29, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.09.

B2Gold (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $448.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $449.28 million. B2Gold had a negative net margin of 38.42% and a positive return on equity of 7.53%. The company's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

B2Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. B2Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BTG shares. Bank of America downgraded B2Gold from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. CIBC reduced their price objective on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com lowered B2Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of B2Gold from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $4.02.

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.