Sprott Inc. Acquires 816,130 Shares of Sandstorm Gold Ltd $SAND

Key Points

• Sprott Inc. increased its stake in Sandstorm Gold Ltd by 18.3%, now holding 5,281,973 shares valued at approximately $39.88 million, making up about 2.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Analysts have varying opinions on Sandstorm Gold, with price targets ranging from $9.75 to $14.00, and four analysts rating the stock as a Buy.
• Sandstorm Gold recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.02, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Sprott Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold Ltd (NYSE:SAND - Free Report) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,281,973 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 816,130 shares during the quarter. Sandstorm Gold makes up approximately 2.2% of Sprott Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sprott Inc. owned approximately 1.80% of Sandstorm Gold worth $39,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SAND. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 179,107 shares of the company's stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 2.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 111,762 shares of the company's stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 8.8% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 34,979 shares of the company's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Sandstorm Gold by 14.7% in the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 23,400 shares of the company's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 399,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,229,000 after buying an additional 3,640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.97% of the company's stock.

Sandstorm Gold Price Performance

SAND traded down $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.95. 2,851,077 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,921,464. The company has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 91.21 and a beta of 0.47. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $9.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.45. Sandstorm Gold Ltd has a 1 year low of $5.33 and a 1 year high of $11.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.05. Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 17.78% and a return on equity of 2.38%. The company had revenue of $51.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.43 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Sandstorm Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Sandstorm Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SAND. Raymond James Financial set a $9.75 price target on shares of Sandstorm Gold and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sandstorm Gold in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sandstorm Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $11.50 to $11.75 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Sandstorm Gold from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.15.

Sandstorm Gold Company Profile

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.