Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,078 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,049 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.29% of Royal Gold worth $30,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 17,722.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 457,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $74,806,000 after acquiring an additional 454,934 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,825,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,009,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,536,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 181.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 302,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $39,846,000 after buying an additional 194,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Royal Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD traded down $7.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $175.93. The company had a trading volume of 682,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,685. The stock has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50 day moving average price is $176.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.81. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.72 and a 52-week high of $191.78.

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

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.