Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Short Interest Update

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,340,000 shares, a growth of 47.8% from the February 13th total of 2,260,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 39,289.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,812,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,751,000 after buying an additional 9,787,105 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 580.6% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,314,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,600 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. boosted its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 4,465,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,916 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Sandstorm Gold by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,890,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,050 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Sandstorm Gold Price Performance

SAND stock traded up $0.26 on Monday, reaching $6.79. The company had a trading volume of 4,684,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,075,908. The company’s fifty day moving average is $6.06 and its 200 day moving average is $5.91. Sandstorm Gold has a 1 year low of $4.76 and a 1 year high of $6.83. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 135.73 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.03). Sandstorm Gold had a return on equity of 0.98% and a net margin of 8.11%. The company had revenue of $47.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is a positive change from Sandstorm Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $12.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sandstorm Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.56.

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.