Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) Short Interest Down 21.9% in March

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in 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 company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.5 days.

Sandstorm Gold Price Performance

NYSE SAND remained flat at $7.49 during trading on Wednesday. 5,809,420 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,241,170. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.03. Sandstorm Gold has a 1-year low of $4.92 and a 1-year high of $7.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 149.83 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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

Sandstorm Gold Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.014 dividend. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SAND has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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 cut their price objective on Sandstorm Gold from $12.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SAND. Sprott Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 4,465,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,916 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 399,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after purchasing an additional 23,947 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sandstorm Gold in the third quarter worth $600,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 501,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,805,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 7.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 125,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 8,728 shares during the last quarter. 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.