O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth about $44,009,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Royal Gold by 181.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 302,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,846,000 after acquiring an additional 194,905 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,427,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $11,998,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,651,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $877,058,000 after purchasing an additional 89,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $155.60 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $118.00 and a one year high of $169.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.53. The stock has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.