Bank of Montreal Can Raises Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 187.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,015 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.19% of Royal Gold worth $18,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the third quarter worth $49,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 51.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Royal Gold by 108.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the second quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 16,842 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,648.06. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on RGLD. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Securities increased their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of 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 five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.43.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $146.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $145.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.13. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.55 and a fifty-two week high of $155.10.

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

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 36.70%.

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.