Machina Capital S.A.S. Invests $273,000 in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in Royal Gold, buying 1,667 shares valued at approximately $273,000 during the first quarter.
• Royal Gold reported earnings of $1.51 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.37, and its revenue for the quarter was $193.44 million, significantly higher than the expected $176.17 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.16% and a payout ratio of 29.80%.

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,667 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,773,925 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,156,842,000 after purchasing an additional 37,648 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Royal Gold by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,651,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $877,058,000 after acquiring an additional 89,298 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Royal Gold by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,029,431 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $135,730,000 after purchasing an additional 168,569 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,054 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $131,412,000 after acquiring an additional 152,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 worth $115,735,000 after buying an additional 49,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RGLD. 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. Scotiabank raised shares of Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $166.00 to $189.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $192.13.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $151.75. The company had a trading volume of 249,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 597,006. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $172.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.40. The company has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.44. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.68 and a 12-month high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $193.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.17 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 52.15% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio is 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.