AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 38.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 483,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,120 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $60,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 321.8% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $141.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.83, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.90. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $100.55 and a one year high of $147.65. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.07.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 8.74% and a net margin of 39.15%. The company had revenue of $174.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Royal Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.20%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,648.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $58,452.75. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,124.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.43, for a total value of $120,481.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,648.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,355 shares of company stock worth $1,170,315. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.00.

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.