Ruffer LLP Lowers Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Ruffer LLP lowered its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 17,040 shares during the quarter. Ruffer LLP’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $14,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 52.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,928,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth about $3,938,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,068,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 275.8% in the 3rd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 6,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 4,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 576.4% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 35,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 29,927 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on RGLD. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. National Bank Financial lowered their price target on Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank downgraded 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $325.00 price objective on Royal Gold and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.64.

Royal Gold Trading Down 4.4%

Royal Gold stock opened at $252.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.65. The company has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.55. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $150.75 and a 52-week high of $306.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). The firm had revenue of $310.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 85.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 12.19 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 27.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.07, for a total transaction of $1,156,213.11. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,698,162.03. The trade was a 40.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total value of $549,660.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,508,417.69. This represents a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,573 shares of company stock worth $2,127,091 in the last three months. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.