Groupe la Francaise Raises Stock Position in Equinox Gold Corp. $EQX

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise more than doubled its Equinox Gold position in the first quarter, purchasing 1.05 million additional shares to reach 2 million shares, valued at approximately $28.8 million.
• Institutional investors own 38.85% of Equinox Gold, while analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with a $13.00 target price, despite one firm downgrading the stock to “Hold.”
• Equinox Gold reported quarterly revenue of $861.6 million, up 224.3% year over year, but slightly missed earnings and revenue expectations; the company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.015 per share.

Groupe la Francaise lifted its position in Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX - Free Report) by 110.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,050,000 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise owned 0.25% of Equinox Gold worth $28,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 190,855 shares of the company's stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equinox Gold by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 30,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Equinox Gold by 96.7% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,067 shares of the company's stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equinox Gold by 1.2% in the first quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 93,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQX. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Equinox Gold in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Equinox Gold from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Equinox Gold from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Equinox Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.00.

Equinox Gold Trading Up 5.0%

EQX opened at $9.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.26. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $6.01 and a 12 month high of $18.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.33.

Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.01). Equinox Gold had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 21.72%.The company had revenue of $861.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $896.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 224.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equinox Gold Corp. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinox Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Equinox Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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