Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 30.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,240 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 66,649 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Royal Gold worth $21,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $104,507,000 after buying an additional 212,316 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 806,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $100,991,000 after acquiring an additional 156,048 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 38.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 483,493 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $60,514,000 after purchasing an additional 134,120 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the second quarter valued at $15,559,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 13,968.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 84,694 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,883,000 after buying an additional 84,092 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Royal Gold Price Performance

Royal Gold stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $134.64. 348,389 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 376,459. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.55 and a 52-week high of $155.10. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $145.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.88, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $193.84 million during 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%. Royal Gold's revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Royal Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $165.43.

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.