Sprott (NYSE:SII) Shares Up 7.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII) traded up 7.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $123.24 and last traded at $124.1180. Approximately 191,337 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 218,651 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SII shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sprott from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Sprott in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Sprott from $218.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sprott from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.00.

Sprott Stock Down 0.2%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.96 and a 200-day moving average of $129.27. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.81 and a beta of 0.83.

Sprott (NYSE:SII) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.01). Sprott had a net margin of 26.36% and a return on equity of 28.40%. The firm had revenue of $71.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.45 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share.

Sprott Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Sprott’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.22%.

Institutional Trading of Sprott

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Sprott by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,355,000 after acquiring an additional 45,120 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sprott by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 78,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,718,000 after purchasing an additional 30,200 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sprott during the first quarter valued at about $17,068,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Sprott during the first quarter valued at about $1,521,000. Finally, Sage Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Sprott in the fourth quarter valued at about $830,000. 28.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sprott

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.