VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Sells 16,950 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems cut its Royal Gold stake by 77.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,950 shares and leaving it with 4,850 shares valued at about $1.08 million.
• Royal Gold reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.92 versus the $2.68 consensus and revenue of $310.83 million versus $425.47 million expected, though revenue still rose 85.2% year over year.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 0.8%, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $273.64.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al decreased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 77.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,850 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,950 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $2,488,000. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 4,103 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $6,452,000. Securian Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,947 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Finally, Aubrey Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Aubrey Capital Management Ltd now owns 7,313 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $228.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.28 and a 200-day moving average of $240.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $150.75 and a 1-year high of $306.25.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.68 by ($0.76). The firm 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 12.63% and a net margin of 48.59%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 11.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on RGLD. Zacks Research cut shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Royal Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $335.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, National Bank Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $273.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $1,156,213.11. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,698,162.03. This trade represents a 40.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,573 shares of company stock worth $2,370,831. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold 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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