Sprott (NYSE:SII) Trading Up 10.3% Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII) were up 10.3% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $115.74 and last traded at $115.52. Approximately 154,923 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average daily volume of 215,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.75.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Sprott’s payout ratio is presently 48.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SII shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Sprott from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Sprott in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sprott from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprott from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sprott currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.00.

Sprott Stock Up 10.3%

The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $114.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.44.

Sprott (NYSE:SII) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.01). Sprott had a return on equity of 23.54% and a net margin of 21.99%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprott

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SII. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Sprott by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Sprott in the 2nd quarter valued at $56,000. Sapient Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Sprott by 1,943.4% in the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 46,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,578,000 after acquiring an additional 43,998 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Sprott by 121.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 134,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,257,000 after purchasing an additional 73,982 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Sprott by 63.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.30% of the company’s stock.

Sprott Company Profile

Sprott Inc is a Toronto‐based alternative asset manager specializing in precious metals, real assets and related investment vehicles. Founded in 1981 by Eric Sprott, the firm has built a reputation for offering physically backed bullion trusts, exchange‐traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds and private managed accounts that provide exposure to gold, silver, platinum and other hard assets. Sprott’s product lineup also includes royalty and streaming strategies, which grant investors long‐term participation in mining project cash flows without direct operational risk.

In addition to its flagship physical bullion trusts, Sprott offers actively managed equity portfolios that focus on companies engaged in the exploration, development and production of precious metals.