Hsbc Holdings PLC Boosts Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 124.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,870 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $5,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,733,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,163,732,000 after purchasing an additional 678,732 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,398,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,867,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,577 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Royal Gold by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,900,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,311,607,000 after buying an additional 905,488 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Royal Gold by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,718,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $826,618,000 after buying an additional 396,778 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,952,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $434,063,000 after buying an additional 78,344 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RGLD shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $325.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Royal Gold from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.27.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.74, for a total transaction of $243,740.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,213,646.68. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Gold Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $199.64 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.75 and a 12 month high of $306.25. The stock has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $208.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.05. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is presently 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.