Verition Fund Management LLC Has $1.13 Million Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 213.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 108.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the third quarter worth $62,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RGLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.43.

Royal Gold Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $144.26 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.55 and a 1-year high of $155.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 840 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.43, for a total transaction of $120,481.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,842 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,648.06. The trade was a 4.75 % 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 company insiders.

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.