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 February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,340,000 shares, a growth of 47.8% from the February 13th total of 2,260,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. acquired a new position in Sandstorm Gold in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Sandstorm Gold Trading Up 1.6 %

Sandstorm Gold stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,959,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,069,446. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 130.93 and a beta of 1.06. Sandstorm Gold has a 12 month low of $4.76 and a 12 month high of $6.67. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.03). Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 0.98%. The company had revenue of $47.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st were paid a $0.02 dividend. This is a positive change from Sandstorm Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SAND has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Sandstorm Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HC Wainwright cut 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.56.

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.