Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,667 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RGLD. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,773,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,156,842,000 after purchasing an additional 37,648 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,651,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $877,058,000 after buying an additional 89,298 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,029,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $135,730,000 after acquiring an additional 168,569 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $131,412,000 after acquiring an additional 152,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 877,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $115,735,000 after acquiring an additional 49,206 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Price Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $154.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.90. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.68 and a 12-month high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 12.48% and a net margin of 52.15%. The company had revenue of $193.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 29.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RGLD. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 price objective on Royal Gold and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.13.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.