Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,972 Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group initiated a new position in Royal Gold, buying 5,972 shares worth about $1.33 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership in Royal Gold remains heavy, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 83.65% of the stock; several firms, including Vanguard and Van ECK, also increased their stakes.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but broadly constructive: Royal Gold has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $273.64, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,972 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,328,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RGLD. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 104.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,994,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,001,885,000 after buying an additional 2,547,076 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,398,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,867,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,577 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 5.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,321,868 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $666,300,000 after acquiring an additional 170,430 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 17.8% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 981,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $196,879,000 after acquiring an additional 148,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 567,727 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $126,200,000 after acquiring an additional 143,598 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RGLD has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial dropped their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $273.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total transaction of $549,660.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,508,417.69. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total value of $421,218.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 4,400 shares of company stock valued at $1,214,618 over the last ninety days. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royal Gold Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $222.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50 day moving average is $242.63 and its 200 day moving average is $243.86. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $150.75 and a twelve month high of $306.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.65%.

Royal Gold Company Profile

Royal Gold, Inc, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a leading precious metals streaming and royalty company. Through its business model, Royal Gold provides upfront financing to mining operators in exchange for the right to purchase a percentage of future metal production at predetermined prices. This structure allows the company to participate in production upside while minimizing exposure to the operating and capital-intensive aspects of mine ownership.

The company's portfolio encompasses interests in over 200 streams and royalties on projects across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.

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