B2Gold (TSE:BTO) Upgraded at Scotia

Scotia upgraded shares of B2Gold (TSE:BTO) (NYSE:BTG) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research report released on Monday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have C$10.00 price objective on the stock.

BTO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD upgraded B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from C$6.00 to C$8.50 in a report on Monday. National Bank Financial dropped their target price on shares of B2Gold from C$10.70 to C$9.75 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$9.33.

B2Gold Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of TSE:BTO opened at C$7.25 on Monday. B2Gold has a 52-week low of C$5.02 and a 52-week high of C$8.60. The firm has a market capitalization of C$9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a P/E/G ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$5.72 and a 200-day moving average price of C$6.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.48, a quick ratio of 3.33 and a current ratio of 1.58.

B2Gold (TSE:BTO) (NYSE:BTG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.04 EPS for the quarter. B2Gold had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 21.20%.The company had revenue of C$1.12 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that B2Gold will post 0.5596659 EPS for the current fiscal year.

B2Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at B2Gold

In other news, insider William Lytle sold 177,190 shares of B2Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$7.16, for a total transaction of C$1,268,680.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 41,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$295,600.60. This trade represents a 81.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Peter Dominic Montano sold 61,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$6.51, for a total value of C$398,763.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 456 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,968.56. This represents a 99.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 404,442 shares of company stock valued at $2,670,056. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

B2Gold News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting B2Gold this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple broker upgrades: CIBC raised B2Gold from “hold” to “strong buy,” while TD Securities made the same upgrade. Scotiabank also upgraded the shares from “hold” to “strong buy” and raised its rating to “sector outperform.” CIBC upgrade Scotiabank upgrade TD upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Broader analyst support: ATB Cormark also raised its rating on B2Gold, adding to the increasingly bullish analyst view and potentially encouraging additional buying from investors. ATB Cormark upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: The ratings changes represent a shift in analyst sentiment but do not include a new production, earnings, or corporate announcement. Investors may therefore continue to focus on gold prices and B2Gold’s operating results to validate the upgrades. Canadian analyst updates
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Director William Lytle sold 177,190 shares for approximately C$1.27 million, reducing his direct holdings by 81.1% to 41,285 shares. The transaction could temper bullish sentiment, although insider sales can reflect personal financial planning rather than a view on the company’s outlook.

About B2Gold

B2Gold is a responsible international gold producer headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Founded in 2007, today, B2Gold has operating gold mines in Canada, Mali, Namibia and the Philippines, and numerous development and exploration projects in various countries.