VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,800 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,454,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,798 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 61.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,963 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,899,000 after acquiring an additional 11,435 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold by 44.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 17,725 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,898,000 after purchasing an additional 5,496 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,706 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 8.0% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $237.00 target price (up from $229.00) on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price objective on Royal Gold and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.11.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD opened at $184.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.71. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.67 and a 52-week high of $209.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.15 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.41.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Royal Gold's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is currently 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.

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