Savant Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $2,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 187.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 127,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,049,000 after buying an additional 83,015 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 213.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth $1,201,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 114.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 32,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,527,000 after purchasing an additional 17,227 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Royal Gold by 35.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 178,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,074,000 after acquiring an additional 46,615 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $147.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $139.37 and a 200-day moving average of $141.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.90. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.55 and a 1 year high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. As a group, analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities increased their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.86.

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.