Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 10,951 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 78,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,951 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $13,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the second quarter worth about $1,397,000. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 75.1% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 207,155 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,872,000 after purchasing an additional 88,828 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $587,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,140,000 after purchasing an additional 137,524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $218.75 on Monday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $130.67 and a one year high of $224.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). Royal Gold had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 55.99%.The firm had revenue of $250.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 24.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.60.

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.