Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 66,649 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 66,649 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $21,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RGLD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,507,000 after acquiring an additional 212,316 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 48.7% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 171,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,480,000 after buying an additional 56,241 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at $221,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,091,000 after buying an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $133.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.55 and a 12-month high of $155.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.93.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Royal Gold’s revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is presently 41.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,859.40. The trade was a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Securities increased their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.43.

Royal Gold 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.