State of Michigan Retirement System Boosts Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 22.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $4,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Royal Gold by 600.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Royal Gold by 8,400.0% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of Royal Gold 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 sale, the director owned 20,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,508,417.69. The trade was a 9.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total transaction of $421,218.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,140 shares in the company, valued at $6,059,521.80. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,573 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,091 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $325.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. National Bank Financial cut their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.64.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $233.38 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $260.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.30. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.75 and a 52 week high of $306.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.55.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). Royal Gold had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business had revenue of $310.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 27.90%.

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.