Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 111.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,540 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $10,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Royal Gold by 600.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in Royal Gold by 8,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total value of $549,660.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,508,417.69. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total value of $421,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,573 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,091. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RGLD. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. National Bank Financial lowered their price objective on Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group set a $325.00 price objective on Royal Gold and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.64.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of RGLD opened at $238.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $257.38 and a 200-day moving average of $238.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.75 and a 52 week high of $306.25.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $310.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 48.59%.Royal Gold’s revenue was up 85.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 11.65 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.65%.

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.