Legal & General Group Plc Acquires New Shares in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• Legal & General Group acquired 115,102 Royal Gold shares worth approximately $23.0 million, representing about 0.14% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 83.65% of Royal Gold.
• Royal Gold exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted earnings of $2.56 per share and revenue of $468.98 million, with revenue up 114.9% year over year. Analysts expect full-year earnings of $10.26 per share.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, equivalent to a $1.90 annualized payout and a 0.7% yield. Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $285.10.

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 115,102 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $22,976,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.14% of Royal Gold as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the second quarter worth $2,177,865,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,733,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,163,732,000 after purchasing an additional 678,732 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 905,488 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,718,646 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $826,618,000 after purchasing an additional 396,778 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Royal Gold by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,952,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $434,063,000 after purchasing an additional 78,344 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $262.85 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $168.88 and a twelve month high of $306.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $215.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.73.

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

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RGLD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royal Gold from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $285.10.

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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