Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $4,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $741,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $179.58 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.63, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $154.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.52. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $118.00 and a 12-month high of $181.51.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

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.