Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 7,161,024 Shares of B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its stake in B2Gold Corp. (NYSE:BTG) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,918,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,161,024 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 12.06% of B2Gold worth $387,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KG&L Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of B2Gold by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 146,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 19,700 shares during the last quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC boosted its position in B2Gold by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 5,677,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,924,000 after buying an additional 45,605 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in B2Gold by 525.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 517,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 434,775 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of B2Gold during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of B2Gold by 26.8% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 105,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 22,232 shares in the last quarter. 61.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

B2Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BTG opened at $2.56 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.51 and its 200 day moving average is $2.82. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of -4.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. B2Gold Corp. has a twelve month low of $2.20 and a twelve month high of $3.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on BTG shares. StockNews.com lowered B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. CIBC dropped their price objective on B2Gold from $3.70 to $3.30 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Securities downgraded shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of B2Gold from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, B2Gold has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.