Citigroup Inc. Sells 22,772 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. has reduced its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. by 28.3%, selling 22,772 shares and now holding 57,650 shares worth approximately $9.43 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Capital World Investors and Vanguard Group Inc., have increased their positions in Royal Gold, indicating sustained institutional interest in the company.
• Royal Gold recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45, yielding around 1.0%, with a strong revenue growth of 20.4% year-over-year, reporting $209.64 million for the quarter.

Citigroup Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 28.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,650 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 22,772 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.09% of Royal Gold worth $9,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,773,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,156,842,000 after acquiring an additional 37,648 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,698,891 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,095,336,000 after acquiring an additional 46,956 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,029,431 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $135,730,000 after acquiring an additional 168,569 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,054 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $131,412,000 after acquiring an additional 152,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Royal Gold by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 877,803 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $115,735,000 after purchasing an additional 49,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on RGLD. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Royal Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $237.00 price objective (up previously from $229.00) on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.63.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of RGLD opened at $171.45 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.67 and a twelve month high of $191.78. The company has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $167.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.42.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.11. Royal Gold had a net margin of 56.24% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $209.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.39%.

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.

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