State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $4,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,994,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,001,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547,076 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,398,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,867,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,577 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,321,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $666,300,000 after acquiring an additional 170,430 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 981,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,879,000 after acquiring an additional 148,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth $22,219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $233.38 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $150.75 and a one year high of $306.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $260.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 3.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.55.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.68 by ($0.76). Royal Gold had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business had revenue of $310.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 27.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total value of $421,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. The trade was a 6.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.07, for a total transaction of $1,156,213.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,698,162.03. This trade represents a 40.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,573 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,091. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Company Profile

Royal Gold, Inc, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a leading precious metals streaming and royalty company. Through its business model, Royal Gold provides upfront financing to mining operators in exchange for the right to purchase a percentage of future metal production at predetermined prices. This structure allows the company to participate in production upside while minimizing exposure to the operating and capital-intensive aspects of mine ownership.

The company’s portfolio encompasses interests in over 200 streams and royalties on projects across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.