Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,616 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 1,800.2% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 19,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,306,000 after acquiring an additional 18,344 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Royal Gold by 151.2% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,037,000 after buying an additional 15,012 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth about $1,239,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 55,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,746,000 after buying an additional 14,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 1st quarter worth about $3,315,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on RGLD. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $58,452.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,124.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 840 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.43, for a total transaction of $120,481.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,648.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,124.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,355 shares of company stock worth $1,170,315 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Down 2.6 %

RGLD opened at $141.80 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $137.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.29. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.55 and a 52 week high of $147.65. The company has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of 41.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $174.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 39.15% and a return on equity of 8.74%. Royal Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. 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.