Birch Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Birch Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 29.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the second quarter worth about $1,673,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Royal Gold by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Royal Gold by 1.2% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at $235,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock traded up $1.82 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $134.37. The company had a trading volume of 180,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,566. The firm has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $142.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.61. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.76 earnings per share. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 41.28%.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on RGLD shares. StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Securities upped their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.86.

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.