Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 38,974 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 776% compared to the average daily volume of 4,449 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equinox Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Equinox Gold by 2.8% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 87,435,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355,044 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Equinox Gold during the second quarter worth about $82,981,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Equinox Gold by 14.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,239,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,310,000 after purchasing an additional 523,741 shares in the last quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equinox Gold by 66.9% in the third quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 4,181,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,451,000 after buying an additional 1,676,488 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Equinox Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.85% of the company’s stock.

Equinox Gold Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN:EQX opened at $9.70 on Friday. Equinox Gold has a 1 year low of $8.48 and a 1 year high of $18.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.01). Equinox Gold had a return on equity of 10.91% and a net margin of 26.30%. The business had revenue of $769.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $775.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 60.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Equinox Gold will post 1.00 EPS for the current year.

Equinox Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Equinox Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0150. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Equinox Gold’s payout ratio is 16.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQX. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a research note on Friday, August 7th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Equinox Gold from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Equinox Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.00.

Equinox Gold Company Profile

Equinox Gold Corp. is a precious metals mining company focused primarily on the acquisition, development and operation of gold mines. The company produces gold and conducts exploration and development activities intended to expand its mineral reserves and production base.

Equinox Gold’s operations and projects have been located across the Americas, including Canada, the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Its portfolio has included the Greenstone Mine in Ontario, the Mesquite and Castle Mountain projects in California, the Los Filos complex in Mexico, and the Aurizona, Fazenda and Santa Luz operations in Brazil.

The company was formed in 2017 through the merger of Trek Mining and NewCastle Gold and has since grown through acquisitions, mine development and exploration.