Sprott (NYSE:SII) Trading Up 5.5% Following Strong Earnings

Sprott Inc. (NYSE:SII) was up 5.5% on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $141.86 and last traded at $138.0240. Approximately 78,387 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 261,170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $130.79.

The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.58. Sprott had a net margin of 23.26% and a return on equity of 15.01%. The firm had revenue of $61.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.12 million.

Sprott Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Sprott’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SII. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Sprott from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sprott from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of Sprott in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Sprott in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprott presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sprott

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SII. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Sprott during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,428,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sprott during the second quarter worth $40,161,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Sprott by 88.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 991,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,101,000 after acquiring an additional 464,177 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprott in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,948,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sprott in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,299,000. 28.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sprott Trading Up 10.3%

The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.47 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $113.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.30.

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.