Blue Trust Inc. Increases Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 40.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 574 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 61.1% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in Royal Gold during the third quarter valued at $49,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of RGLD opened at $144.48 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.55 and a twelve month high of $155.10. The stock has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $139.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.72.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is presently 41.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on RGLD shares. TD Securities boosted their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.86.

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.