Driehaus Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 124,312 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,559,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Royal Gold at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at $627,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at $327,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 38.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 483,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,514,000 after acquiring an additional 134,120 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at $608,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at $1,021,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $141.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $137.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.07. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.55 and a twelve month high of $147.65. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.83, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. Royal Gold had a net margin of 39.15% and a return on equity of 8.74%. The firm had revenue of $174.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 47.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RGLD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised their target price on Royal Gold from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. CIBC raised their target price on Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cibc World Mkts raised Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.00.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.16, for a total value of $132,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,203,845.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Royal Gold news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 1,000 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.16, for a total value of $132,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,109 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,203,845.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.53, for a total value of $213,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,659,182.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,355 shares of company stock valued at $1,170,315. 0.52% of the stock is owned by 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.