Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Short Interest Down 21.0% in September

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) was the target of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,900,000 shares, a drop of 21.0% from the September 15th total of 3,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Sandstorm Gold

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAND. Perritt Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Oak Family Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Sandstorm Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SAND traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $5.91. The stock had a trading volume of 928,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,189,346. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 1.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.62. Sandstorm Gold has a twelve month low of $3.96 and a twelve month high of $6.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 73.38 and a beta of 1.14.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $41.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.50 million. Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 17.55% and a return on equity of 2.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. This is an increase from Sandstorm Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SAND has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Sandstorm Gold from $6.50 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. CIBC lifted their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sandstorm Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.25.

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.