Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Stake in Equinox Gold Corp. $EQX

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its Equinox Gold stake by 3.9% in the first quarter, selling 158,487 shares and retaining 3.88 million shares worth approximately $56 million.
• Equinox Gold reported quarterly revenue of $861.6 million, up 224.3% year over year, but missed analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings per share. The stock opened at $8.95, well below its 52-week high of $18.96.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $13.00, despite one downgrade to “Hold.” The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.015 per share, yielding about 0.7%.

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,875,807 shares of the company's stock after selling 158,487 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.49% of Equinox Gold worth $56,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TT International Asset Management LTD bought a new stake in Equinox Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $24,061,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Equinox Gold by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,142,985 shares of the company's stock worth $16,064,000 after acquiring an additional 201,000 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Equinox Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,146,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Equinox Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,375,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equinox Gold by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,714,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,665,000 after acquiring an additional 3,250,135 shares during the period. 38.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equinox Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Equinox Gold stock opened at $8.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.26. Equinox Gold Corp. has a 52 week low of $6.01 and a 52 week high of $18.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Equinox Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:EQX - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $896.94 million. Equinox Gold had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 21.72%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 224.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Equinox Gold Corp. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Equinox Gold Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Equinox Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQX. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Equinox Gold from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued 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 note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Equinox Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.00.

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.

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