Xponance Inc. Acquires 781 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $157.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.89. The company has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.01 and a 12-month high of $158.94.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. Analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

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.