Vestcor Inc Boosts Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 1,223.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $3,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at $68,029,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 52.3% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 833,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $148,173,000 after purchasing an additional 286,268 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the second quarter valued at about $45,184,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 928,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $165,095,000 after buying an additional 151,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,140,000 after buying an additional 137,524 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other news, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,698,162.03. The trade was a 40.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total transaction of $421,218.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Scotiabank cut Royal Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $261.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.50.

Royal Gold Trading Down 0.1%

RGLD opened at $281.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $271.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 2.91. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.75 and a 1-year high of $306.25.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.68 by ($0.76). The firm had revenue of $360.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 85.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.90%.

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.