Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,951 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Royal Gold by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at $16,636,000. Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 2,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 3.6% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 46,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on RGLD. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $264.00 target price on Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.50.

Royal Gold Stock Down 9.8%

RGLD opened at $263.31 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $235.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.50. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.34 and a 52 week high of $306.25. The company has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a PE ratio of 36.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). Royal Gold had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 55.99%.The company had revenue of $250.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is presently 26.10%.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a leading precious metals streaming and royalty company. Through its business model, Royal Gold provides upfront financing to mining operators in exchange for the right to purchase a percentage of future metal production at predetermined prices. This structure allows the company to participate in production upside while minimizing exposure to the operating and capital-intensive aspects of mine ownership.

The company’s portfolio encompasses interests in over 200 streams and royalties on projects across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.