First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Acquires New Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $704,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 99.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 168,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,608,000 after purchasing an additional 84,206 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 51.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 8,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 57.5% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 2,971 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 7.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 16,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,007,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 530.6% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $972,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RGLD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Sunday, December 7th. Scotiabank cut shares of Royal Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $261.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $251.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were 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 owned 20,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.07, for a total transaction of $1,156,213.11. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,698,162.03. This trade represents a 40.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,573 shares of company stock worth $2,127,091 over the last ninety days. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royal Gold Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $255.82 on Wednesday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.75 and a 12-month high of $306.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a PE ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $274.48 and its 200-day moving average is $224.86.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 85.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.90%.

About Royal Gold

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.