Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Decreases Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lowered its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 584 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 0.4% in the fourth 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. grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.4% in the 4th 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 increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 19.6% during 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 buying an additional 168,569 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 18.1% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 5.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RGLD. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $184.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.13 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.80. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.72 and a 52-week high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.14. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. The business had revenue of $193.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.80%.

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.