Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,402 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Royal Gold were worth $7,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 187.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 127,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,049,000 after buying an additional 83,015 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 213.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after buying an additional 5,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the third quarter worth $1,201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.86.

Royal Gold Price Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $157.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.01 and a 1-year high of $158.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $146.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. Equities analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.