Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,260,000 shares, a growth of 34.5% from the January 31st total of 1,680,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Sandstorm Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Sandstorm Gold by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Sandstorm Gold by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 501,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 3,640 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 24,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 129,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on SAND shares. HC Wainwright lowered their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $12.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sandstorm Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.56.

Sandstorm Gold Stock Performance

Sandstorm Gold stock opened at $6.17 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.92 and a 200-day moving average of $5.86. Sandstorm Gold has a 1 year low of $4.50 and a 1 year high of $6.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.42 and a beta of 1.10.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $47.40 million during 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 prior year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This is an increase from Sandstorm Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.