Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

SAND has been the subject of several other reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Sandstorm Gold from $11.00 to $11.50 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $6.50 to $6.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $9.00 to $9.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $6.25 to $6.50 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $8.38.

Sandstorm Gold Price Performance

Sandstorm Gold stock opened at $6.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.63 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.49. Sandstorm Gold has a 1 year low of $3.96 and a 1 year high of $6.32.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $41.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.50 million. Sandstorm Gold had a return on equity of 2.06% and a net margin of 17.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandstorm Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were issued a $0.0146 dividend. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 16th. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.01%.

Institutional Trading of Sandstorm Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAND. Mad River Investors grew its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mad River Investors now owns 192,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 3,016 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 302,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 109,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,442 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 34.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 20,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 5,254 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

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.