Driehaus Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,366 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 36,408 shares during the quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $11,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 303.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,063,000 after purchasing an additional 21,468 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at $264,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth $2,722,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at $105,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of RGLD opened at $184.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $119.72 and a one year high of $191.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.07 and a 200 day moving average of $151.80.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. The business had revenue of $193.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is presently 29.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on RGLD shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. CIBC boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.00.

About Royal Gold

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.