Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. 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 note on Tuesday, September 10th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Three research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.35.

Sandstorm Gold Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:SAND opened at $5.36 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.67 and a beta of 1.13. Sandstorm Gold has a one year low of $3.96 and a one year high of $6.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 2.29.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last posted its earnings results 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). Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 20.46% and a return on equity of 2.44%. The company had revenue of $44.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.70 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandstorm Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.12%. This is a positive change from Sandstorm Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SAND. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 125,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,728 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 6.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 399,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,400,000 after purchasing an additional 23,947 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold during the third quarter worth $464,000. Stansberry Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 17.1% during the third quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 46,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 6,817 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Sandstorm Gold during the third quarter worth about $153,000. 51.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.