Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,387,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 250,739 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 5.15% of Royal Gold worth $446,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RGLD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RGLD. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.86.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $147.19 on Thursday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $100.55 and a one year high of $155.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $139.37 and a 200 day moving average of $141.00. The company has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. On average, equities analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $82,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,950. This trade represents a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.