Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 235,641 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Acadian Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 34.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 438,835 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 235,641 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.67% of Royal Gold worth $53,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,169,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $988,149,000 after purchasing an additional 47,807 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,664,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $811,861,000 after purchasing an additional 21,407 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 6.8% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,595,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,807,000 after buying an additional 292,357 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Royal Gold by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,667,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $443,581,000 after purchasing an additional 37,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC boosted its position in Royal Gold by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 671,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,252,000 after buying an additional 73,642 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.73, for a total transaction of $196,095.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,940,033.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RGLD. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.75.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Royal Gold stock traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $136.98. 138,419 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 398,149. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $140.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.75 and its 200-day moving average is $120.57. The stock has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.76, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.87.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $148.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.02 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 38.12% and a return on equity of 7.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 47.20%.

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.