Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,271 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $11,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the second quarter worth $427,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the second quarter worth $323,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Royal Gold by 34.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,507,000 after purchasing an additional 212,316 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 40.0% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 7,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $145.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $146.76 and a 200 day moving average of $138.59. The firm has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 33.41, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $100.55 and a one year high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,950. This trade represents a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. The trade was a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.