Swedbank AB Sells 45,646 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Swedbank AB lessened its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 522,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 45,646 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.62% of Royal Gold worth $132,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RGLD. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the first quarter valued at about $220,000. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 2.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 51.2% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 37,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 12,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Praxis Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 25.6% in the first quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,411 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RGLD. National Bank Financial lowered their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $325.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Royal Gold from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.30.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $196.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $218.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.87. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.75 and a 52 week high of $306.25.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,000 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.74, for a total transaction of $243,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,213,646.68. The trade was a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold 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.