Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 303.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 21,468 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $4,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at $591,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $474,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $185,454,000 after buying an additional 33,151 shares during the last quarter. Valued Retirements Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $403,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Royal Gold by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 26,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,659,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of Royal Gold 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $133.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $146.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.93. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.55 and a 52-week high of $155.10. The company has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on RGLD shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.