Baird Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII - Free Report) by 49.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,426 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,944 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.19% of Sprott worth $2,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Sprott by 7,753.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,555 shares of the company's stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 4,497 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Sprott by 5.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 103,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,501,000 after buying an additional 5,129 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Sprott in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Sprott by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Sprott during the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. 28.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SII has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Sprott in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Sprott in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating on the stock.

Sprott Trading Up 0.2%

SII stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $55.63. The company had a trading volume of 338,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 131,542. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.90 and a 200-day moving average of $44.76. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Sprott Inc. has a one year low of $38.41 and a one year high of $56.42.

Sprott (NYSE:SII - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.14. Sprott had a net margin of 27.38% and a return on equity of 15.02%. The company had revenue of $37.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.48 million.

Sprott Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. Sprott's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

About Sprott

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.