Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases New Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $741,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $185,454,000 after purchasing an additional 33,151 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 179,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,605,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 35.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 178,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,074,000 after purchasing an additional 46,615 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth $18,427,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $157.01 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $108.95 and a one year high of $158.94.

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

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Royal Gold

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.