Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 798 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Royal Gold were worth $2,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.5% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Royal Gold by 15.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Royal Gold by 6.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in Royal Gold by 1.9% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Gold Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $145.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $145.21 and its 200 day moving average is $136.87. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.55 and a 52-week high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly 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 analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 36.70%.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,859.40. The trade was a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.43, for a total transaction of $120,481.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,648.06. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on RGLD. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James raised their price target on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.43.

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.