VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Has $4.37 Million Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $4,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 22,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 4.2% during the third quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 1,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 4.0% during the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 3.0% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,937 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 9.4% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $222.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.75. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.00 and a fifty-two week high of $235.52. The company has a market capitalization of $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $250.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 55.99% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on RGLD. Zacks Research cut Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $261.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.60.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.