Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 2,497.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 22,055 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $5,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,398,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,867,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,577 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,026,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Royal Gold by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,900,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,311,607,000 after purchasing an additional 905,488 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Royal Gold by 89.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,855,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,543,000 after purchasing an additional 874,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 457.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 925,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,820,000 after purchasing an additional 759,810 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RGLD. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. National Bank Financial dropped their price target on Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Royal Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Royal Gold from $325.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.27.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

RGLD opened at $191.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $213.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.06. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 22.65%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,082 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.