Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD Shares Purchased by Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC

Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,128 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,454 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $4,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,055,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,816,267,000 after purchasing an additional 93,282 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,398,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,867,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,577 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,994,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,001,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,547,076 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,321,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $666,300,000 after purchasing an additional 170,430 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,030,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $206,698,000 after purchasing an additional 6,710 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.64.

Royal Gold Trading Down 5.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $228.32 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $251.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.43. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $150.75 and a 12-month high of $306.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). The company had revenue of $310.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 48.59% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 11.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other news, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total transaction of $549,660.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,508,417.69. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total transaction of $421,218.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 20,140 shares in the company, valued at $6,059,521.80. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 8,573 shares of company stock worth $2,370,831 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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.