Sapient Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 47,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,251,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 622.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.80, for a total value of $131,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,082 shares in the company, valued at $2,123,949.60. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Gold Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of RGLD stock traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $231.18. 450,958 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 850,975. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.45. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.88 and a fifty-two week high of $306.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $243.39 and its 200-day moving average is $231.06.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $468.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.85 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 47.74%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 114.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 10.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.4750 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RGLD has been the topic of several research reports. TD lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $289.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $305.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Royal Gold from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Nine equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.64.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc is a precious metals streaming and royalty company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Rather than operating mines directly, the company finances mining projects and acquires interests that provide rights to purchase a portion of the metals produced from those operations or to receive royalty payments based on mine revenue.

Royal Gold’s portfolio is primarily focused on gold, with additional exposure to silver, copper and other metals. Its interests include streaming agreements and royalties associated with projects such as Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic and Mount Milligan in British Columbia, Canada.