Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, HC Wainwright reduced their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sandstorm Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.38.

Sandstorm Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SAND opened at $6.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.83 and a beta of 1.10. Sandstorm Gold has a twelve month low of $3.99 and a twelve month high of $6.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 21st were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from Sandstorm Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

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

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.