Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 31.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold by 414.9% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $56,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,370,351. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RGLD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Royal Gold from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Royal Gold from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $158.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price objective for the company. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.25.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $124.58 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.55 and a twelve month high of $147.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $152.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.32 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 39.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.96%.

Royal Gold 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.