Sandstorm Gold Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:SAND)

Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (NYSE:SAND) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 4,331 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 209% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,400 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SAND has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded 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 shares of 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 increased their target price on shares of Sandstorm Gold from $6.75 to $7.25 and gave the company 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sandstorm Gold

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new position in shares of Sandstorm Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Lifeworks Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sandstorm Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Sandstorm Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sandstorm Gold by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.97% of the company’s stock.

Sandstorm Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Sandstorm Gold stock opened at $7.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.27 and a beta of 1.06. 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 has a 52 week low of $4.92 and a 52 week high of $7.67.

Sandstorm Gold (NYSE:SAND) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 0.98%. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sandstorm Gold will post 0.18 EPS for the current year.

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.