Swedbank AB Acquires 143,598 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 33.9%, buying 143,598 shares to hold 567,727 shares (about $126.2M, or 0.67% of the company) at the end of the quarter.
• Royal Gold missed quarterly estimates with EPS of $1.92 and revenue of $310.8M, despite revenue rising 85.2% year-over-year; analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $273.64.

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 33.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 567,727 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 143,598 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.67% of Royal Gold worth $126,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Bank & Trust Co raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 600.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 140 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 8,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 170 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total value of $549,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,508,417.69. This represents a 9.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.07, for a total transaction of $1,156,213.11. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,698,162.03. This represents a 40.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,573 shares of company stock worth $2,127,091. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on RGLD shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank downgraded Royal Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $335.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Royal Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $273.64.

Royal Gold Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $236.88 on Thursday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.75 and a fifty-two week high of $306.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $258.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 3.12. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.43.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). The business had revenue of $310.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 45.26%.Royal Gold's quarterly revenue was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio is 27.90%.

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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