Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 19,500 Shares of Sprott Inc. $SII

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies increased its Sprott stake by 23.8% in the first quarter, purchasing 19,500 shares for a total of 101,600 shares valued at approximately $14.5 million. Institutional investors collectively owned 28.3% of Sprott.
• Analyst sentiment was moderately positive: Sprott had an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $230 price target, including Royal Bank of Canada’s upgrade to an “outperform” rating and higher target.
• Sprott exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.13 in EPS versus a $0.93 consensus estimate and $80.75 million in revenue. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, representing a 1.6% annualized yield.

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII - Free Report) by 23.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,600 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,500 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.39% of Sprott worth $14,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Sprott during the first quarter worth $443,000. Aristides Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Sprott by 11.8% in the first quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Sprott by 23.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,635 shares of the company's stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Sprott by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,038 shares of the company's stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sprott during the first quarter worth approximately $17,068,000. 28.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SII shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Sprott in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Sprott from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprott from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Sprott from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.00.

Sprott Stock Performance

NYSE SII opened at $102.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.37. Sprott Inc. has a one year low of $61.94 and a one year high of $169.63.

Sprott (NYSE:SII - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $80.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.06 million. Sprott had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 23.54%.

Sprott Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Sprott's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.93%.

Sprott Company Profile

Sprott Inc is a Toronto‐based alternative asset manager specializing in precious metals, real assets and related investment vehicles. Founded in 1981 by Eric Sprott, the firm has built a reputation for offering physically backed bullion trusts, exchange‐traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds and private managed accounts that provide exposure to gold, silver, platinum and other hard assets. Sprott's product lineup also includes royalty and streaming strategies, which grant investors long‐term participation in mining project cash flows without direct operational risk.

In addition to its flagship physical bullion trusts, Sprott offers actively managed equity portfolios that focus on companies engaged in the exploration, development and production of precious metals.

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