Ellsworth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired 5,593 shares of Royal Gold, Inc., valued at approximately $915,000, marking a new stake for the institutional investor in the 1st quarter.
• Several hedge funds increased their holdings in Royal Gold, with BNP Paribas Financial Markets raising its position by 80.4% during the 4th quarter.
• Royal Gold recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.81, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a $0.45 dividend per share to be paid on October 17th.

Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,593 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Royal Gold by 256.5% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 246 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RGLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities reaffirmed 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. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.63.

Royal Gold Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:RGLD traded down $3.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $191.95. The stock had a trading volume of 388,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 638,629. The stock has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.67. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.67 and a 12-month high of $196.00.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is 26.39%.

Royal Gold Company 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.