Short Interest in Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Grows By 16.1%

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, an increase of 16.1% from the November 15th total of 3,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SAND shares. StockNews.com cut Sandstorm Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Sandstorm Gold during the 2nd quarter worth $606,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Sandstorm Gold by 42.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,149,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,162,000 after acquiring an additional 935,005 shares during the period. Sagil Capital LLP acquired a new stake in Sandstorm Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,041,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sandstorm Gold by 195.0% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 130,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 86,000 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 472,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,572,000 after purchasing an additional 113,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Sandstorm Gold Stock Down 1.2 %

SAND opened at $5.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.72. Sandstorm Gold has a 1-year low of $3.96 and a 1-year high of $6.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.83 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $44.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.70 million. Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 20.46% and a return on equity of 2.44%. As a group, research analysts expect that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.015 per share. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This is a boost from Sandstorm Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. Sandstorm Gold’s payout ratio is currently 41.67%.

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.