Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Stake Cut by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $2,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 526.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 414.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 321.8% during the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of RGLD stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $140.43. The stock had a trading volume of 57,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,614. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.35. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $100.55 and a one year high of $141.39. The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 40.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.87.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 8.74% and a net margin of 39.15%. The company had revenue of $174.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $58,452.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,124.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $58,452.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,124.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 1,000 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.16, for a total value of $132,160.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,203,845.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RGLD shares. CIBC increased their price objective on Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.00.

Royal Gold 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.