CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $6.75 Million Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 36.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,675 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.08% of Royal Gold worth $6,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in 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 worth $988,149,000 after purchasing an additional 47,807 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $811,861,000 after buying an additional 21,407 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 292,357 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 37,885 shares during the period. Finally, Kopernik Global Investors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Kopernik Global Investors LLC now owns 671,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,252,000 after acquiring an additional 73,642 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on RGLD shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.75.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

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 value of $196,095.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,840 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,033.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $135.09 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 39.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.87. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $140.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.