Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX)

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 7,737 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 69% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,582 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 232.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 558,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,843,000 after buying an additional 390,690 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equinox Gold in the 1st quarter valued at $6,883,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Equinox Gold by 35.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,862,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,812,000 after acquiring an additional 490,251 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Equinox Gold by 164.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 780,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,367,000 after purchasing an additional 485,567 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Equinox Gold by 77.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 356,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 155,460 shares during the period. 38.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Equinox Gold from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Equinox Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Equinox Gold from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $13.00.

Equinox Gold Stock Up 3.6%

EQX traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $10.70. The stock had a trading volume of 11,510,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,328,910. Equinox Gold has a one year low of $6.29 and a one year high of $18.96. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $10.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). Equinox Gold had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The firm had revenue of $769.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $775.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equinox Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 60.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Equinox Gold will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.