Stifel Financial Corp Boosts Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 14.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,428 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $7,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Royal Gold by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,637,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $553,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,394 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,584,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $448,694,000 after purchasing an additional 20,508 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Royal Gold by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,507,000 after purchasing an additional 212,316 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Royal Gold by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 806,872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,991,000 after purchasing an additional 156,048 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 483,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,514,000 after purchasing an additional 134,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Down 2.2 %

RGLD stock opened at $146.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $146.59 and a 200 day moving average of $138.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.89. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.55 and a 52 week high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. The trade was a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on RGLD shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. TD Securities raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.43.

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.