Stephens Inc. AR Invests $3.29 Million in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 20,101 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,287,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Royal Gold by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,998,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 129,300 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $17,048,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,005 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,715,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ RGLD remained flat at $155.11 during midday trading on Friday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 110,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,000. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.94. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.69 and a 1-year high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 52.15%. The business had revenue of $193.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is 29.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on RGLD. BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 price target on Royal Gold and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. CIBC increased their target price on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $192.13.

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.