Prudential PLC Boosts Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 42.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,988 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,023 shares during the period. Prudential PLC owned about 0.06% of Royal Gold worth $4,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,454,000 after buying an additional 33,151 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Royal Gold by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,843,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth $44,009,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 181.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 302,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,846,000 after acquiring an additional 194,905 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $155.60 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.00 and a 1 year high of $169.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $151.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.53. The company has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on RGLD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.75.

Royal Gold Company 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.