Swedbank AB Purchases New Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 80,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,246,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,637,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $553,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,394 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 20,508 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $104,507,000 after acquiring an additional 212,316 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $100,991,000 after acquiring an additional 156,048 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 224.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 609,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,276,000 after acquiring an additional 422,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $146.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $145.08 and a 200 day moving average of $136.73. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RGLD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.43.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In related news, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.53, for a total transaction of $213,795.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,659,182.21. This trade represents a 7.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This represents a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,324 shares of company stock valued at $626,023 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

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.