Meeder Asset Management Inc. Makes New $4.99 Million Investment in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,989,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $68,029,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Royal Gold by 1,090.1% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 319,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,811,000 after acquiring an additional 292,611 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 52.3% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 833,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $148,173,000 after acquiring an additional 286,268 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,184,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 928,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $165,095,000 after purchasing an additional 151,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Sunday, December 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.60.

Royal Gold Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $245.20 on Monday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.73 and a 52-week high of $248.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.68, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $207.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). Royal Gold had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 55.99%.The firm had revenue of $250.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 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 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a leading precious metals streaming and royalty company. Through its business model, Royal Gold provides upfront financing to mining operators in exchange for the right to purchase a percentage of future metal production at predetermined prices. This structure allows the company to participate in production upside while minimizing exposure to the operating and capital-intensive aspects of mine ownership.

The company’s portfolio encompasses interests in over 200 streams and royalties on projects across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.