Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Reduces Position in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC reduced its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,366 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 25,927 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Royal Gold by 68.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,682,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $274,887,000 after acquiring an additional 685,857 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at about $68,029,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1,090.1% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 319,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,811,000 after purchasing an additional 292,611 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 52.3% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 833,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $148,173,000 after purchasing an additional 286,268 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,184,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on RGLD shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial set a $264.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.60.

Royal Gold Stock Up 0.1%

RGLD stock opened at $233.32 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $197.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.61. The company has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.48. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.67 and a 52 week high of $235.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). Royal Gold had a net margin of 55.99% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The company had revenue of $250.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.73%.

Royal Gold Profile

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.