Everence Capital Management Inc. Takes $253,000 Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Royal Gold by 61.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 51.7% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,950. This represents a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James upped their target price on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities lifted 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of RGLD opened at $133.63 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.68. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.55 and a 12-month high of $155.10. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

About Royal Gold

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.