Northern Trust Corp Sells 5,071 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp decreased its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. by 0.5% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 1.56% of the company valued at $167.5 million.
• Equities analysts have mixed views on Royal Gold; Wall Street Zen downgraded it from "buy" to "hold," while TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and raised the target price.
• Royal Gold's quarterly earnings exceeded estimates, with reported EPS of $1.81 and revenue of $209.64 million, reflecting a 20.4% year-over-year increase.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,024,360 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,071 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.56% of Royal Gold worth $167,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold by 0.9% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,938 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% during the first quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 20,704 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,385,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 4.5% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,586 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 5.2% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.7% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RGLD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Royal Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 price objective on Royal Gold and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $237.00 price objective (up previously from $229.00) on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Royal Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.63.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD traded up $2.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $177.44. 635,382 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 857,318. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.40. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $130.67 and a one year high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $209.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.63 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 56.24%.The company's revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Equities 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 will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.39%.

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.