Prudential Financial Inc. Increases Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 74.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 16,503 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $6,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RGLD. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 4.5% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,586 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 56.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 16,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $203.79 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.67 and a fifty-two week high of $209.42. The company has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.14.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $250.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 56.24% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on RGLD. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. CIBC raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.40.

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.