Royce & Associates LP Has $833,000 Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 73.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,500 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 83,015 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 5,480 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,201,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,843,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $157.01 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.95 and a 52 week high of $158.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $146.33 and a 200-day moving average of $143.83.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Royal Gold 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.