Press Releases
U.S. Global Investors Announces a Substantial Increase in February’s Stock Buybacks Compared to Last Year, Continuation of Monthly Dividends for Past 13 Years
Date Posted: March 7, 2024
Read time: 5 min
U.S. Global Investors, Inc.(NASDAQ: GROW) (the “Company”), a registered investment advisory firm with longstanding experience in global markets and specialized sectors, today is pleased to announce that it repurchased 102,636 of its own shares in February 2024, at a net cost of approximately $281,000. This represents a substantial increase of nearly 200% from the number of shares purchased the same month a year earlier.
As a reminder, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) modified the Company’s buyback program in February 2022, increasing the annual limit from $2.75 million to $5 million. Since March 2022, the Company has bought back around 1 million of its shares.
“U.S. Global Investors is committed to enhancing shareholder value, and buying back our own stock is just one way that demonstrates our strategic approach to capital allocation. It also showcases our confidence in the Company’s future prospects,” says Frank Holmes, the Company’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer. “We believe GROW is deeply undervalued right now, and we will continue buying as small-cap stocks remain under pressure from higher borrowing costs.”
Continuation of Monthly GROW Dividends
The Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) approved payment of the $0.0075 per share per month dividend beginning in April 2024 and continuing through June 2024. The record dates are April 8, May 6 and June 10, and the payment dates will be April 22, May 20 and June 24.
At the February 29, closing price of $2.61, the $0.0075 monthly dividend equals a 3.45% yield on an annualized basis. For the 12 months ended December 29, 2023, the Company’s total shareholder yield was approximately 7.9%, which was more than twice the yield on the 10-year Treasury that same day.[1]
“We maintain a high conviction in sharing own shareholder yield because we believe focusing on dividends or buybacks alone fails to give investors the full picture,” says Mr. Holmes. “I urge readers interested in learning more to check out Mebane Faber, co-founder of Cambria Investment Management and author of Shareholder Yield: A Better Approach to Dividend Investing. A strong advocate for shareholder yield, Faber has shown numerous times that the strategy works in multiple industries.”
Gold at New All-Time High
The Company is also pleased to report that the price of gold has recorded a new record high in intraday trading as of March 5, 2024, on investor hopes that the Federal Reserve may begin easing monetary policy later this year.
“This is very constructive news for the gold mining industry, which will see higher revenues as a result of these prices,” says Mr. Holmes.
Gaining Exposure with Smart Beta 2.0 Thematic Funds
U.S. Global Investors is a pioneer in the gold industry, launching the very first no-load gold mutual fund in 1974. The Company currently offers two gold-related mutual funds and one exchange-traded fund focused on precious metal mining.
“The run-up in gold is specifically beneficial to our gold royalty and streaming ETF, since it focuses on companies that generate over 50% of their revenue from precious metals. Our smart-beta 2.0 approach allows us to combine the advantages of passive investing and those of active investing,” says Mr. Holmes. “Instead of ranking companies by market capitalization, we take a more quantitative approach, screening for key financial factors.”
About U.S. Global Investors, Inc.
The story of U.S. Global Investors goes back more than 50 years when it began as an investment club. Today, U.S. Global Investors, Inc. (www.usfunds.com) is a registered investment adviser that focuses on niche markets around the world. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the Company provides investment advisory services to U.S. Global Investors Funds and U.S. Global ETFs.
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All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. There is no guarantee that the funds will declare dividends in the future or that, if declared, will remain at current levels or increase over time. The shareholder yield is a ratio that shows how much money the company is sending back to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. Smart beta 2.0 combines the benefits of passive investing and the advantages of active investing strategies. Quant investing, or quantitative analysis, is the use of statistical models in investment management.
[1] The Company computes shareholder yield by adding the percentage of change in shares outstanding to the dividend yield for the 12 months ending September 30, 2023. The Company did not have debt; therefore, no debt reduction was included.
