Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,303,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 22,701 shares during the quarter. Royal Gold comprises 0.9% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.07% of Royal Gold worth $520,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 3.1% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Royal Gold by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 30,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,254,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,825,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 5.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD traded down $0.32 on Monday, reaching $124.26. 294,659 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 432,181. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $115.03 and its 200-day moving average is $115.01. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.55 and a fifty-two week high of $147.82.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $152.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.32 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 39.53%. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.96%.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $56,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,351. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RGLD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Royal Gold from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. National Bank Financial upgraded Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Royal Gold from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $158.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.25.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, acquires and manages precious metal streams, royalties, and related interests. The company engages in acquiring stream and royalty interests or to finance projects that are in production, development, or in the exploration stage in exchange for stream or royalty interests, which primarily consists of gold, silver, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, and other metals.