19,270 Shares in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD Purchased by Howard Capital Management LLC

Howard Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 19,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,548,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,144,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,083,000. L2 Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,147,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $88,124,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 94.9% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Stock Up 2.2%

Royal Gold stock traded up $5.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $238.05. The stock had a trading volume of 648,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 650,771. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.92. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $168.88 and a fifty-two week high of $306.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.45.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 47.74%. The firm had revenue of $468.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.85 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 114.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 10.30 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.4750 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 2nd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 20.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RGLD. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Royal Gold from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.80, for a total transaction of $131,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,123,949.60. This represents a 5.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Profile

Royal Gold, Inc is a precious metals streaming and royalty company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Rather than operating mines directly, the company finances mining projects and acquires interests that provide rights to purchase a portion of the metals produced from those operations or to receive royalty payments based on mine revenue.

Royal Gold’s portfolio is primarily focused on gold, with additional exposure to silver, copper and other metals. Its interests include streaming agreements and royalties associated with projects such as Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic and Mount Milligan in British Columbia, Canada.