Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,387,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 250,739 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Royal Gold worth $446,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 51.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $147.19 on Thursday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $155.10. The stock has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $139.37 and its 200 day moving average is $141.00.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 41.28%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $82,350.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.