Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $1.90 Million Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board trimmed its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 42.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,905 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,034,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $229,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $147.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $144.50 and a 200 day moving average of $136.07. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.55 and a 52 week high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 36.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Gold news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total value of $645,426.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,042,503.30. The trade was a 38.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,924 shares of company stock worth $1,271,449. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on RGLD. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.43.

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.