Virtu Financial LLC Takes $298,000 Position in Sandstorm Gold Ltd $SAND

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC purchased 39,536 shares of Sandstorm Gold Ltd, valued at approximately $298,000, as disclosed in a 13F filing with the SEC.
• Several institutional investors have increased their holdings in Sandstorm Gold, with Invesco Ltd. and Dimensional Fund Advisors leading the increases at 3.6% and 22.5% respectively.
• Sandstorm Gold recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, a positive change from the previous $0.01 quarterly dividend, signaling a stable financial outlook.

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold Ltd (NYSE:SAND - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 39,536 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SAND. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 2.1% during the 1st 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 34,979 shares of the company's stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 14.7% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 399,540 shares of the company's stock worth $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640 shares during the last quarter. 51.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sandstorm Gold Trading Down 2.6%

NYSE SAND traded down $0.2750 on Tuesday, reaching $10.3250. The stock had a trading volume of 4,206,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,000,795. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.04 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Sandstorm Gold Ltd has a 12-month low of $5.33 and a 12-month high of $10.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.27.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05. The business had revenue of $51.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.43 million. Sandstorm Gold had a return on equity of 2.38% and a net margin of 17.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandstorm Gold Ltd will post 0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This is an increase from Sandstorm Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Sandstorm Gold's payout ratio is 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SAND shares. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Sandstorm Gold in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Canada cut Sandstorm Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial set a $9.75 price objective on Sandstorm Gold and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Sandstorm Gold from $11.50 to $11.75 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Sandstorm Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.