Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Boosts Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of Kentucky boosted its stake by 25.1% in Royal Gold to 24,905 shares (worth $5.536 million), and institutional investors now own about 83.65% of the stock.
• Royal Gold missed quarterly expectations — EPS $1.92 vs. $2.68 expected and revenue $310.8M vs. $425.5M expected — though revenue was up 85.2% year‑over‑year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed-to-positive with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $273.64 (eight Buy, three Hold, one Sell).

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,905 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Royal Gold were worth $5,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,538 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC grew its position in Royal Gold by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Royal Gold by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management grew its position in Royal Gold by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 1,283 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its position in Royal Gold by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 1,368 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on RGLD. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $335.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. National Bank Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $273.64.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $252.36 on Monday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1 year low of $150.75 and a 1 year high of $306.25. 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 capitalization of $21.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.55. The company's fifty day moving average is $264.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.70.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.68 by ($0.76). The business had revenue of $310.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 45.26%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is presently 27.90%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.07, for a total value of $1,156,213.11. Following the sale, the director owned 6,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,698,162.03. The trade was a 40.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total transaction of $421,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. The trade was a 6.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 7,573 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,091 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

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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