516,180 Shares in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) Acquired by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 516,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,597,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in B2Gold by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 166,079,133 shares of the company's stock worth $566,312,000 after purchasing an additional 47,967,010 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 0.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 59,489,129 shares of the company's stock valued at $183,862,000 after purchasing an additional 438,399 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in B2Gold by 66.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 17,875,880 shares of the company's stock worth $55,058,000 after buying an additional 7,165,600 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in B2Gold by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,158,780 shares of the company's stock worth $34,824,000 after buying an additional 282,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in B2Gold by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,284,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,053,000 after buying an additional 3,474,553 shares in the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cibc World Mkts lowered B2Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of B2Gold from $3.30 to $3.60 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $3.75 price target on shares of B2Gold in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut B2Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $4.12.

B2Gold Trading Down 2.0 %

BTG stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $2.44. 17,066,916 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,836,354. B2Gold Corp. has a 12-month low of $2.34 and a 12-month high of $3.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.36, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.90. 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 (NYSE:BTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $448.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $449.28 million. B2Gold had a positive return on equity of 7.53% and a negative net margin of 38.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that B2Gold Corp. will post 0.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. B2Gold's payout ratio is presently -28.57%.

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.