T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 139,313 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Royal Gold by 17.6%, now holding 654,466 shares valued at approximately $107 million.
• Royal Gold reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.81 for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates and showing a 20.4% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.0%, with the payment scheduled for October 17th.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 654,466 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 139,313 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.99% of Royal Gold worth $107,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oxbow Advisors LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 116,887 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $19,112,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the 1st quarter worth $324,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the first quarter valued at about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD traded up $2.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $177.44. 635,382 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 857,318. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.67 and a 52 week high of $191.78. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $167.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.82.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 56.24%.The business had revenue of $209.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $186.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Royal Gold's revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is presently 26.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RGLD. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $237.00 price target (up from $229.00) on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Royal Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Royal Gold from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.63.

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.