Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 10,060,510 Equinox Gold Corp. $EQX

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 10,060,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,388,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Equinox Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research lowered Equinox Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Equinox Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN EQX opened at $11.50 on Friday. Equinox Gold Corp. has a 1 year low of $5.61 and a 1 year high of $18.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.78 and its 200 day moving average is $14.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $861.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $896.94 million. Equinox Gold had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 21.72%.During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 224.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Equinox Gold Corp. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinox Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.015 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Equinox Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.11%.

Equinox Gold 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.