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

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 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 period. Royal Gold comprises about 0.9% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 6.55% of Royal Gold worth $520,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 3.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,825,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing 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

RGLD stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $124.26. The stock had a trading volume of 294,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 432,181. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $115.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.01. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.55 and a 1-year high of $147.82. The stock has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.31.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Royal Gold from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. National Bank Financial raised 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 price objective for the company from $148.00 to $158.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.25.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, VP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.18, for a total value of $52,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $986,897.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.