Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 12.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 78,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,951 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Royal Gold worth $13,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 548.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 56.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in Royal Gold by 256.5% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

RGLD opened at $185.83 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.67 and a 12-month high of $209.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $189.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.24.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $250.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 56.24%.Royal Gold’s revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 24.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on RGLD. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $237.00 price objective (up previously from $229.00) on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.22.

Royal Gold 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.