Short Interest in Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Drops By 21.9%

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAND. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $1,177,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sandstorm Gold by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 180,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 55,459 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 127,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 4,792 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 140,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 580.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,314,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Sandstorm Gold Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:SAND traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $7.47. 4,580,401 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,234,761. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $6.41 and a 200-day moving average of $6.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 149.49 and a beta of 1.06. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $4.92 and a fifty-two week high of $7.74.

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

Sandstorm Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given 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 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.