San Antonio, TX, July 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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 23,622 of its own shares in June 2023, at a net cost of approximately $67,000. This represents an increase of approximately 78% from the number of shares purchased the same month in 2022.
The Company has significantly increased the amount of stock it repurchases. The Board of Directors (the “Board”) modified the Company’s buyback program in December 2022, making it possible for the Company to buy back shares of GROW stock when the price is flat or down from the previous trading day. In the first half of 2023, the Company repurchased a total of 284,885 GROW shares, roughly 337% more compared to the number of shares it bought back in the sixth-month period ended June 30, 2022.
“We believe the Company’s stock looks attractive right now with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 3.14 as of July 5, compared to a P/E of 12.45 for our peers in the Dow Jones U.S. Small Cap Asset Managers Index,” says Frank Holmes, the Company’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer. “By buying back our own stock, we seek to return value back to the shareholders, and I’m grateful to the Board for its continued confidence in our growth and business strategy.”
Continuation of Monthly Dividends
The Board approved payment of the $0.0075 per share per month dividend beginning in July 2023 and continuing through September 2023. The record dates are July 10, August 14 and September 11, and the payment dates will be July 24, August 28 and September 25.
At the June 30, 2023, closing price of $3.06, the $0.0075 monthly dividend equals a 2.94% yield on an annualized basis.
The continuation of future cash dividends will be determined by the Board, at its sole discretion, after review of the Company’s financial performance and other factors, and is dependent on earnings, operations, capital requirements, general financial condition of the Company and general business conditions.
JETS Beat the Market in the First Half of 2023
On a final note, the Company is pleased with the overall health of the commercial airline industry in the first half of 2023 and the performance of its U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE: JETS). Passenger volumes in the U.S. have fully returned to and, in fact, exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with the number of people boarding planes totaling just under 77 million in June, compared to 76.3 million passengers in June 2019, according to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) data. This comes despite there being flight disruptions at the end of June due to inclement weather on the East Coast.
“We believe the airline industry is a leading economic indicator since consumers have historically booked their flights days and weeks ahead of their trips in a majority of cases,” comments Mr. Holmes. “JETS has responded well to the positive booking activity, increasing more than 25% in the first half of 2023, outperforming the S&P 500, which gained 16.8% on a tech-fueled rally. We chalk this up to JETS’ quant-based, smart-beta construction; every quarter, the ETF rebalances and reconstitutes. JETS currently trades not just in New York but also in Europe, Mexico and Peru.”
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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Please carefully consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. For this and other important information, obtain a statutory and summary prospectus for JETS by clicking here. Read it carefully before investing.
Total Annualized Returns as of 6/30/2023:
| Fund | One-Year | Five-Year | Ten-Year | Since Inception (4/28/2015) | Gross Expense Ratio |
| U.S. Global Jets ETF NAV | 30.09% | -5.34% | n/a | -1.29 | 0.60% |
| U.S. Global Jets ETF Share Price | 29.82% | -5.33% | n/a | -1.29% | 0.60% |
| S&P 500 | 18.48% | 7.58% | 12.83% | n/a | n/a |
The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. For performance data current to the most recent month-end please visit www.usglobaletfs.com. Short-term performance, in particular, is not a good indication of the fund’s future performance, and an investment should not be made based solely on returns.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV and are not individually redeemed from the funds. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Because the funds concentrate their investments in specific industries, the funds may be subject to greater risks and fluctuations than a portfolio representing a broader range of industries. The funds are non-diversified, meaning they may concentrate more of their assets in a smaller number of issuers than diversified funds. The funds invest in foreign securities which involve greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods. These risks are greater for investments in emerging markets.
The funds may invest in the securities of smaller-capitalization companies, which may be more volatile than funds that invest in larger, more established companies. The performance of the funds may diverge from that of the index. Because the funds may employ a representative sampling strategy and may also invest in securities that are not included in the index, the funds may experience tracking error to a greater extent than funds that seek to replicate an index. The funds are not actively managed and may be affected by a general decline in market segments related to the index.
Airline Companies may be adversely affected by a downturn in economic conditions that can result in decreased demand for air travel and may also be significantly affected by changes in fuel prices, labor relations and insurance costs.
Fund holdings and allocations are subject to change at any time. Click to view fund holdings for JETS.
Distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC. U.S. Global Investors is the investment adviser to JETS.
A P/E (price-to-earnings) ratio is a metric that compares a company's share price to its annual net profits. The Dow Jones U.S. Small Cap Asset Managers Index is a market cap-weighted index of publicly traded small-cap asset management firms in the U.S. The S&P 500 Stock Index is a widely recognized capitalization-weighted index of 500 common stock prices in U.S. companies.
Smart beta investing combines the benefits of passive investing and the advantages of active investing strategies.
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Holly Schoenfeldt U.S. Global Investors, Inc. 210.308.1268 hschoenfeldt@usfunds.com
