Verity Asset Management Inc. Has $1.97 Million Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the quarter. Royal Gold comprises 1.0% of Verity Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,021,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 975.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,946,000 after buying an additional 19,047 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 18,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,540,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Royal Gold by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $140.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $139.61 and a 200-day moving average of $140.63. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $100.55 and a one year high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.28%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RGLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.86.

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.