5,730 Shares in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems purchased 5,730 shares of Royal Gold worth approximately $1.14 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 83.65% of the company.
• Royal Gold reported quarterly EPS of $2.56, narrowly exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 114.9% year over year to $468.98 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.8%.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $287.82, compared with a recent share price of $252.28.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,730 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,144,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 19,848.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 19,665,976 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,925,525,000 after purchasing an additional 19,567,393 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,177,865,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Royal Gold by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,733,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,163,732,000 after buying an additional 678,732 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Royal Gold by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,900,432 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,311,607,000 after buying an additional 905,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Royal Gold by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,718,646 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $826,618,000 after buying an additional 396,778 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $262.80, for a total transaction of $131,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,123,949.60. This trade represents a 5.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $252.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.92. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1 year low of $168.88 and a 1 year high of $306.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.50.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 47.74%.The company had revenue of $468.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.85 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 114.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 10.26 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, October 2nd will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 2nd. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RGLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. TD increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $289.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.82.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc is a precious metals streaming and royalty company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Rather than operating mines directly, the company provides financing to mining companies in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced from certain projects at predetermined prices, or to receive revenue-based payments tied to mineral production.

Royal Gold's portfolio is organized into two primary businesses: streams and royalties. Its streaming agreements generally provide rights to purchase gold, silver, copper or other metals from mining operations, while its royalty interests entitle the company to a percentage of revenue or production from a mine without bearing the operator's ongoing costs.

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