Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Invests $868,000 in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,586 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $868,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $298,000. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $314,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 266,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $35,083,000 after acquiring an additional 29,923 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,187,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 95,322 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. CIBC increased their price target on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royal Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Raymond James increased their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank upgraded Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 target price on Royal Gold and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.13.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Gold Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of RGLD traded down $1.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $177.66. The stock had a trading volume of 824,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,457. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.72 and a 12 month high of $191.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.82. The company has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $193.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.17 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. Royal Gold's quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Gold's payout ratio is currently 29.80%.

About Royal Gold

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.