Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,610,000 shares, a decrease of 21.9% from the February 28th total of 3,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SAND has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $12.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sandstorm Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sandstorm Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.56.

Sandstorm Gold Price Performance

NYSE SAND remained flat at $7.49 during trading hours on Wednesday. 5,809,420 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,241,170. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.83 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Sandstorm Gold has a one year low of $4.92 and a one year high of $7.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $6.41 and its 200-day moving average is $6.03.

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

Sandstorm Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.014 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAND. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 39,289.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,812,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,751,000 after purchasing an additional 9,787,105 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,296 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,974,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,781,000 after buying an additional 913,527 shares during the period. Sprott Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 4,465,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,925,000 after buying an additional 1,955,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 74.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,890,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,447,000 after buying an additional 1,238,050 shares during the period. 51.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.