Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 194,905 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 181.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 302,206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 194,905 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $39,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $741,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 213.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Royal Gold by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,843,000 after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at $455,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $164.56 on Thursday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $118.00 and a one year high of $164.96. The company has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $150.16 and a 200-day moving average of $145.23.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.86.

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.