Sprott (NYSE:SII) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $137.20 and last traded at $136.7220, with a volume of 54221 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $131.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Sprott in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Sprott in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Sprott in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $132.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sprott presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.00.

Sprott Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.00 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.76.

Sprott (NYSE:SII) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $49.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.71 million. Sprott had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 23.26%.

Sprott Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Sprott’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Sprott’s payout ratio is 82.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprott

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SII. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sprott during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Sprott in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sprott by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Sprott during the third quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sprott during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $83,000. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.