Man Group plc Buys 56,602 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Man Group plc raised its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 1,123.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,638 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,602 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.09% of Royal Gold worth $8,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,150,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $570,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 56,310 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,424,000 after purchasing an additional 10,482 shares in the last quarter. Greenline Partners LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Royal Gold by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,589 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $196.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. CIBC lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank upgraded Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.00.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $173.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.66. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.72 and a 1-year high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $193.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.17 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is currently 29.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Gold 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.

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