Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 997,389 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 21.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,598,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 997,389 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 5.47% of Royal Gold worth $450,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 12,032.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,219,000 after purchasing an additional 182,171 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 82,276 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,952,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Cannell & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth $2,419,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 193,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,408,000 after acquiring an additional 35,458 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on RGLD shares. StockNews.com lowered Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Cibc World Mkts raised Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.53, for a total value of $213,795.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,657 shares in the company, valued at $2,659,182.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $645,426.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,042,503.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.53, for a total value of $213,795.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,659,182.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,515 shares of company stock worth $1,049,834. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $140.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 240,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,775. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $134.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.68. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.55 and a 12-month high of $142.77. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.87.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $174.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.12 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 8.74% and a net margin of 39.15%. The business’s revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.20%.

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.