Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Sprott Inc. $SII

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Sprott Inc. by 17.8%, acquiring an additional 8,636 shares, bringing its total ownership to 57,062 shares valued at approximately $2.56 million.
• Recent analyst changes include a downgrade by TD Securities from a "buy" to a "hold" rating, with the stock currently holding an average rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Sprott Inc. reported earnings of $0.52 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, while the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, yielding 1.8%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII - Free Report) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,062 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,636 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of Sprott worth $2,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SII. Tacita Capital Inc purchased a new position in Sprott in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Sprott by 100.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Sprott in the 1st quarter valued at about $247,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Sprott in the 1st quarter valued at about $247,000. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Sprott by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sprott Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Sprott stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $68.91. The stock had a trading volume of 74,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,157. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.71 and a beta of 1.01. Sprott Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.88 and a 1 year high of $77.16.

Sprott (NYSE:SII - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $41.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.66 million. Sprott had a return on equity of 15.04% and a net margin of 25.21%.

Sprott Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Sprott's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, TD Securities cut Sprott from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprott has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Sprott Profile

Sprott Inc is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides asset management, portfolio management, wealth management, fund management, and administrative and consulting services to its clients. It offers mutual funds, hedge funds, and offshore funds, along with managed accounts.