Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX)

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 31,294 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 369% compared to the average volume of 6,670 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on EQX shares. Zacks Research downgraded Equinox Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Equinox Gold from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Equinox Gold from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised Equinox Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equinox Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Equinox Gold Price Performance

NYSEAMERICAN EQX traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,389,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,270,494. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.18. Equinox Gold has a 1-year low of $5.61 and a 1-year high of $18.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.46.

Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $861.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $896.94 million. Equinox Gold had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 10.26%. Equinox Gold’s revenue was up 224.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Equinox Gold will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Equinox Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. Equinox Gold’s payout ratio is presently 11.11%.

Institutional Trading of Equinox Gold

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQX. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 91.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 96,024,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,077,394,000 after purchasing an additional 45,820,861 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,714,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250,135 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Equinox Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,888,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 20,234,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,152,000 after purchasing an additional 3,589,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L1 Capital Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 20,164,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,768,141 shares during the last quarter. 38.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equinox Gold

Equinox Gold Corp is a Canadian gold mining company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company focuses on the acquisition, development, and operation of gold properties, with an emphasis on open-pit heap leach mining. Since its inception, Equinox Gold has pursued a strategy of combining assets in established jurisdictions to build a diversified portfolio that balances production and growth, while maintaining rigorous safety and environmental standards.

Equinox Gold’s operating portfolio spans three countries.