It's taken almost three years, and there are still a few cents left to gain, but Sprott Inc. is on the verge of finally re-reaching its $10 initial public offering price.
That isn't the greatest of feats. But it's better than continuing to plunge. After going public in May, 2008, and raising $200-million, the stock tanked to a low of $2.61 in November of that year. Talk about bad timing.
For about two years the stock chart moved sideways, and then exploded in July, 2010. If you had bought in around Canada Day last year and held the stock until now, you would have earned a 185 per cent return.
On the back of strong fourth quarter earnings Sprott's stock is up 5 per cent today to $9.74.
The company is now led by Peter Grosskopf, who has scooped up three California-based natural resource investment managers since taking control. Mr. Grosskopf is particularly interested in grabbing U.S. investors' attention. "There are a lot of high-net-worth investors in the U.S. who are increasingly nervous about holding the bulk of their investments in U.S. dollar-denominated securities," Mr. Grosskopf told The Globe a few months back.
Tim Kiladze