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

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 20,709 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 329% compared to the typical volume of 4,831 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EQX shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Equinox Gold from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Equinox Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equinox Gold has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

Institutional Trading of Equinox Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Equinox Gold by 96.7% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares during the period. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in Equinox Gold during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. CX Institutional acquired a new position in Equinox Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Equinox Gold during the second quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinox Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $100,000. 38.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equinox Gold Stock Performance

Shares of EQX stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $11.22. The stock had a trading volume of 5,206,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,784,525. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.99. Equinox Gold has a twelve month low of $8.48 and a twelve month high of $18.96. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). Equinox Gold had a net margin of 26.30% and a return on equity of 10.91%. The firm had revenue of $769.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $775.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 60.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equinox Gold will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinox Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Equinox Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0150. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. Equinox Gold’s payout ratio is presently 16.67%.

About Equinox Gold

Equinox Gold Corp. is a mining company focused on the exploration, development and operation of gold properties in the Americas. The company produces gold doré and related gold products from its operating mines and advances a portfolio of development and exploration projects intended to support long-term production.

Equinox Gold’s portfolio has included the Mesquite and Castle Mountain properties in California, the Greenstone Mine in Ontario, and the Aurizona, Fazenda and Santa Luz mines in Brazil, as well as the Los Filos complex in Mexico.