Vest Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $3,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Encompass More Asset Management grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 4.2% in the third quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 1,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in Royal Gold by 4.1% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 56.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $287.83 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.68 and a 12-month high of $292.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $222.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $24.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.49.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share 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 company 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 company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RGLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $261.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.60.

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.