Norges Bank Buys Shares of 333,781 Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 333,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,009,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.51% of Royal Gold as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 390.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $155.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.00 and a 52-week high of $169.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $151.05 and its 200 day moving average is $145.49.

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

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid 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 1.16%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RGLD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.75.

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.