Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND)

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 2,772 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 36% compared to the typical volume of 2,043 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 179,107 shares of the company's stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Sandstorm Gold by 2.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 111,762 shares of the company's stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 2,307 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in 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 valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 8.8% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 34,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 501,762 shares of the company's stock worth $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 51.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $7.25 to $8.25 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Sandstorm Gold from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Sandstorm Gold in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Sandstorm Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.06.

Sandstorm Gold Price Performance

NYSE SAND traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $8.48. 300,808 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,442,473. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 169.49 and a beta of 0.90. Sandstorm Gold has a 12-month low of $4.92 and a 12-month high of $8.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 0.98% and a net margin of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $47.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

Sandstorm Gold Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors 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 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Sandstorm Gold's payout ratio is 100.00%.

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.