Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Decreases Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC decreased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,769 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RGLD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 390.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Royal Gold by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on RGLD shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Stock Down 0.3 %

Royal Gold stock opened at $180.38 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $162.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.06. The firm has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.61 and a 52-week high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its 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 return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

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.