EP Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,910 Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 357.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,473,000 after purchasing an additional 40,419 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 75.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 65,293 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,174,000 after buying an additional 28,163 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 187.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 127,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,049,000 after buying an additional 83,015 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,201,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 114.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 32,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,527,000 after acquiring an additional 17,227 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Royal Gold Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of RGLD opened at $146.93 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $146.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.89. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.55 and a 1-year high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 41.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Gold news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,950. This trade represents a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

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.