Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 18.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 682 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 256.5% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 77.0% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 4,545.5% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $169.61 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $167.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.20. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.56 and a 12-month high of $191.78. The firm has a market cap of $11.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.40.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.11. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 56.24%. The firm had revenue of $209.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 26.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 price target on Royal Gold and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $237.00 target price (up from $229.00) on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.63.

Royal Gold Company 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.