Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Position Reduced by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board trimmed its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,569 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 9,905 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in RGLD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,664,975 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $811,861,000 after acquiring an additional 21,407 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,637,739 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $553,810,000 after acquiring an additional 39,394 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,584,967 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $448,694,000 after buying an additional 20,508 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Royal Gold by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $104,507,000 after purchasing an additional 212,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 806,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $100,991,000 after buying an additional 156,048 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on RGLD shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Raymond James raised their price target on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $165.43.

Royal Gold Price Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $148.60. 257,695 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 369,359. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $144.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.07. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.55 and a twelve month high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from Royal Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,859.40. The trade was a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $645,426.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,042,503.30. The trade was a 38.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,924 shares of company stock worth $1,271,449 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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.