Moors & Cabot Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Sandstorm Gold Ltd (NYSE:SAND)

Key Points

• Moors & Cabot Inc. has reduced its stake in Sandstorm Gold Ltd by 44.8%, selling 99,849 shares and leaving it with a total of 123,059 shares valued at approximately $929,000.
• Sandstorm Gold has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.02, representing a yield of 0.8% with a payout ratio of 60.00%.
• Analysts are optimistic about Sandstorm Gold's future, with multiple price target upgrades forecasting a potential rise, including an outlook of $10.15 as the average target price.

Moors & Cabot Inc. lowered its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold Ltd (NYSE:SAND - Free Report) by 44.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,059 shares of the company's stock after selling 99,849 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.'s holdings in Sandstorm Gold were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 107.9% in the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 75,471 shares of the company's stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 39,172 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 136,709 shares of the company's stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 9,543 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 80,295 shares of the company's stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 16,741 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 717,284 shares of the company's stock worth $5,402,000 after purchasing an additional 29,015 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 140.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,590 shares of the company's stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 14,935 shares during the period. 51.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sandstorm Gold Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:SAND traded up $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.79. 1,067,617 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,935,624. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.95. Sandstorm Gold Ltd has a 52-week low of $5.03 and a 52-week high of $10.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.76 and a beta of 0.47.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 15.80% and a return on equity of 2.00%. The firm had revenue of $50.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $71.61 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sandstorm Gold Ltd will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This is a positive change from Sandstorm Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Sandstorm Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SAND shares. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $11.50 to $11.75 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $7.25 to $8.25 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sandstorm Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial set a $9.75 price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Sandstorm Gold from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.15.

About Sandstorm Gold

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. operates as a gold royalty company. The company focuses on acquiring royalties and gold and other metals purchase agreements from companies that have advanced stage operating mines. It offers upfront payments for companies to acquire a stream and receives the right to purchase a percentage of a mine's production for the life of the mine.