Premier Fund Managers Ltd Takes $1.03 Million Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 7,293 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,034,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in Royal Gold in the third quarter worth $49,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $62,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $147.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.90. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.55 and a fifty-two week high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 36.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RGLD. Scotiabank lifted their price target on 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 lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $645,426.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,042,503.30. This represents a 38.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,924 shares of company stock worth $1,271,449. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.