Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) Short Interest Up 21.3% in April

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 18,348,875 shares, an increase of 21.3% from the March 31st total of 15,124,493 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,417,174 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Equinox Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQX. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 worth $1,077,394,000 after purchasing an additional 45,820,861 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in Equinox Gold during the fourth quarter worth $332,888,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equinox Gold during the fourth quarter worth $141,388,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Equinox Gold during the fourth quarter worth $75,290,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Equinox Gold during the fourth quarter worth $55,875,000. Institutional investors own 38.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EQX shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Equinox Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of Equinox Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $17.00.

Equinox Gold Stock Performance

Shares of EQX stock opened at $13.98 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 58.25 and a beta of 1.21. Equinox Gold has a 12 month low of $5.61 and a 12 month high of $18.96.

Equinox Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were given a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. Equinox Gold’s payout ratio is currently 11.11%.

Equinox Gold Company Profile

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.