U.S. Global Investors (NASDAQ:GROW), the investment advisory firm specializing in global markets and specialized sectors, announced it had repurchased over 102,000 of its own shares in February 2024, marking a significant surge of nearly 200% compared to the same month a year earlier.
The company revealed that the buyback, executed at a net cost of approximately $281,000, underscores its commitment to enhancing shareholder value and confidence in its future prospects.
The move follows a modification to the company's buyback program by the board of directors in February 2022, raising the annual limit from $2.75 million to $5 million.
Since March 2022, the Company has repurchased around 1 million of its shares.
"Buying back our own stock demonstrates our strategic approach to capital allocation and showcases our confidence in the company's future prospects,” Frank Holmes, US Global Investors CEO said in a statement.
“We believe GROW is deeply undervalued right now, and we will continue buying as small-cap stocks remain under pressure from higher borrowing costs."
In addition to the buyback announcement, the company's board also approved the continuation of monthly dividends beginning in April 2024 and extending through June 2024.
The dividend, set at $0.0075 per share per month, is aimed at providing consistent returns to shareholders. At the current closing price of $2.61 as of February 29, the monthly dividend equates to a 3.45% annualized yield.
US Global Investors, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, offers investment advisory services to US Global Investors Funds and US Global ETFs. With a focus on niche markets around the world, the company continues to drive innovation in investment strategies to maximize shareholder value.
US Global Investors has a long-standing legacy in the gold industry, having introduced the inaugural no-load gold mutual fund in 1974. Presently, the company provides investors with access to two gold-focused mutual funds and a specialized exchange-traded fund centered on precious metal mining.
With gold hitting an all-time high earlier this week, the company noted 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,” said Holmes, a frequent commentator and noted gold sector expert.
“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,” said Holmes.
“Instead of ranking companies by market capitalization, we take a more quantitative approach, screening for key financial factors.”