LPL Financial LLC Trims Position in Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,215 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Sandstorm Gold were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAND. Lifeworks Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sandstorm Gold in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Sandstorm Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $66,000. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd acquired a new position in Sandstorm Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Sandstorm Gold by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold in the 4th quarter worth $93,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $7.25 to $8.25 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com raised Sandstorm Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Sandstorm Gold in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Sandstorm Gold from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reduced their target price on Sandstorm Gold from $12.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sandstorm Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.06.

Sandstorm Gold Stock Performance

Shares of SAND stock opened at $8.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 170.03 and a beta of 0.90. Sandstorm Gold Ltd. has a 1 year low of $4.92 and a 1 year high of $8.82.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $47.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.49 million. Sandstorm Gold had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 0.98%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sandstorm Gold Ltd. will post 0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandstorm Gold Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.014 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Sandstorm Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.