Tuesday, December 01, 2020 6:10:41 PM
Here's Why You Should Add B2Gold (BTG) to Your Portfolio Now
Zacks Equity Research
Tue, December 1, 2020, 10:16 AM EST
B2Gold Corp BTG is poised to gain from continued strong operational performance from existing mines, particularly Fekola. Also, the company is likely to benefit from focus on lowering debt levels and cost control efforts. The rally in gold prices this year also bodes well for this gold producer. Continued pursuit of growth through exploration, development and expansion will continue to drive growth in the long haul.
The above-mentioned tailwinds have secured analysts’ confidence in the stock. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current and next-year earnings have both moved up 6% over the past 30 days.
B2Gold currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and a VGM Score of A. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 offer the best upside potential. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Let's delve deeper into the factors that make B2Gold worth retaining in your portfolio at the moment.
Price Performance: B2Gold’s shares have gained 39% year to date compared with the industry’s rally of 18.3%.
Earnings Growth: The company recorded an earnings growth rate of 65.5% over the last five years, outperforming the industry’s rally of 38.2%. This momentum is likely to continue as evident from B2Gold’s projected earnings per share growth of 257% and 9% for fiscal 2020 and 2021, respectively. The company has a long-term estimated earnings growth of 20.7%. It continues to pursue additional internal growth through further exploration, development and expansion of existing projects, and pursuit of greenfield exploration projects alone or in joint ventures.
Strong Leverage: As of Sep 30, 2020, B2Gold’s total debt was 2% of total capital and has shown considerable improvement over the past five years. It is also lower than the industry’s 15%. Further, the company’s times interest earned ratio has improved over the past five years and is at 42.5, higher than the industry’s 15.4. The strong financial health of the company is likely to help it to capitalize on growth opportunities.
Return on Equity (ROE): B2Gold trailing 12-month ROE of 19.9% reinforces its growth potential. The company’s ROE is higher than the industry’s ROE of 7.4%, highlighting its efficiency in utilizing shareholders’ funds.
Growth Drivers
B2Gold’s total gold production in the first nine months of 2020 was a record 738,939 ounces, 4% above the budget, reflecting year-over-year growth of 19%. Backed by the better-than-expected performance of its operating mines, the company expects total consolidated gold production to come in at the mid-point of its guided range of 1,000,000 ounces to 1,055,000 ounces for the current year.
With higher gold production forecast for 2020, expected benefits from B2Gold’s ongoing cost control actions and the sale of its higher-cost Nicaraguan mines; consolidated cash operating costs per ounce and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce are expected to decline in the current year. Cash operating costs are projected to be at or below the low end of its guided range of $415 per ounce to $455 per ounce. Meanwhile, AISC is anticipated to be at the lower end of the range of $780 per ounce to $820 per ounce. In 2019, the company's consolidated cash operating costs were $512 per ounce produced and consolidated AISC was $862 per ounce sold.
Gold prices have gained 17% so far this year fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. Higher gold prices and lower costs will boost the company’s margins during the year.
B2Gold is on track to realize a significant increase in gold production from the Fekola Mine in the current year driven by the expansion of a larger mining fleet and optimization of the pit designs and mine plan for 2020, which have provided access to higher grade portions of the Fekola deposit earlier than anticipated. The Fekola mine expansion project was completed ahead of the scheduled date of Sep 30, 2020. The mine expansion and the larger mining fleet is likely to significantly increase Fekola's processing throughput by 1.5 million tons per annum (Mtpa) to 7.5 Mtpa and enable the company to produce around 550,000 ounces of gold over 2020 to 2024.
Recent BTG News
- Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/08/2024 01:55:14 PM
- B2Gold Reports Q1 2024 Results; Cash Operating Costs and All-In Sustaining Costs Below 2024 Annual Guidance Ranges; Update on Goose Project Following Successful Completion of 2024 Winter Ice Road Campaign • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 05/07/2024 10:20:00 PM
- B2Gold First Quarter 2024 Financial Results – Conference Call Details • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 04/15/2024 09:30:01 PM
- B2Gold Files Form 40-F and Supporting Documentation • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 03/15/2024 02:00:42 AM
- B2Gold Reports Strong Q4 and Full Year 2023 Results; Achieved 2023 Total Gold Production and Consolidated Cost Guidance; Q1 2024 Dividend of US$0.04 per Share Declared • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 02/21/2024 10:59:19 PM
- Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 02/16/2024 11:02:00 AM
- B2Gold Reports Three Fatalities from Off-Site Incident in Mali • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 02/16/2024 05:36:59 AM
- B2Gold Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results – Conference Call Details • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 02/14/2024 01:00:59 AM
- Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 01/31/2024 03:54:34 PM
- B2Gold Announces Positive Exploration Drilling Results from the Antelope Deposit at the Otjikoto Mine in Namibia, Highlighting the Potential to Expand Underground Gold Production through the Early 2030’s • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 01/31/2024 01:00:25 PM
- Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 01/24/2024 03:06:29 PM
- B2Gold Announces Total Gold Production for Q4 2023 of 288,665 oz; Total Gold Production for 2023 of 1,061,060 oz, Achieving Upper Half of 2023 Guidance; 2024 Guidance, Preliminary 2025 Production Outlook and Gold Prepay Arrangement • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 01/24/2024 01:00:16 AM
- B2Gold Declares Fourth Quarter 2023 Dividend of $0.04 per Share • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 11/22/2023 10:30:10 PM
- B2Gold Announces Positive Exploration Drilling Results from its Inaugural Drilling Campaign at the Back River Gold District in Nunavut and Provides an Update on Construction and Mining at the Goose Project • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 11/22/2023 12:10:56 AM
- B2Gold Reports Q3 2023 Results; 2023 Total Gold Production Guidance Reiterated; Full-Year Cash Operating Costs Forecast to be Below Guidance Range and Full-Year All-In Sustaining Costs Forecast to be at the Low End of Guidance Range • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 11/08/2023 11:45:36 PM
- Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 10/12/2023 09:19:06 PM
- B2Gold Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results – Conference Call Details • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 10/12/2023 09:00:52 PM
- Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 09/18/2023 03:44:00 PM
- Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16] • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 09/18/2023 03:33:12 PM
- B2Gold Provides Construction Update for the Goose Project in Nunavut, Canada; Construction on Budget and on Track to Pour First Gold in Q1 2025 • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 09/18/2023 11:00:36 AM
- B2Gold to Consolidate Gramalote Project by Acquiring AngloGold Ashanti’s 50% Stake • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 09/18/2023 07:05:05 AM
- B2Gold Declares Third Quarter 2023 Dividend of $0.04 per Share • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 09/05/2023 09:30:00 PM
- Form F-3D - Registration of securities pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 09/01/2023 06:06:50 PM
- Form RW - Registration Withdrawal Request • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 08/31/2023 07:20:01 PM
- B2Gold Announces Dividend Reinvestment Plan • GlobeNewswire Inc. • 08/28/2023 09:40:05 PM
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