B2Gold (TSE:BTO) Shares Down 2.3% Following Insider Selling

Shares of B2Gold Corp. (TSE:BTO) (NYSE:BTG) dropped 2.3% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as C$4.57 and last traded at C$4.60. Approximately 1,308,827 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 3,897,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$4.71.

Specifically, Director Jerry Korpan sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$4.63, for a total transaction of C$555,600.00. Also, Director Clive Thomas Johnson sold 99,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.79, for a total transaction of C$376,972.35. In other B2Gold news, Senior Officer Eduard Bartz sold 13,161 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$3.79, for a total transaction of C$49,880.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$60.64. This trade represents a 99.88 % decrease in their position.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BTO. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on B2Gold from C$7.00 to C$6.50 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Cormark downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities cut shares of B2Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank raised B2Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$5.94.

B2Gold Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$4.07 and a 200-day moving average of C$3.98. 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 stock has a market capitalization of C$4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.32, a PEG ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.23.

B2Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. B2Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -25.32%.

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.