Renaissance Technologies LLC Decreases Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 392,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 52,900 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $51,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,651,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $877,058,000 after buying an additional 89,298 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,454,000 after purchasing an additional 33,151 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,009,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 181.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 302,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,846,000 after purchasing an additional 194,905 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on RGLD. Raymond James lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.75.

Royal Gold Price Performance

RGLD stock opened at $164.54 on Thursday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.00 and a 1-year high of $169.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $153.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Company 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.