Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires 22,552 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 133.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,552 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $8,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors raised its position in Royal Gold by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,733,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,163,732,000 after acquiring an additional 678,732 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Royal Gold by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,398,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,867,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,681,577 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Royal Gold by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,900,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,311,607,000 after acquiring an additional 905,488 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Royal Gold by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,718,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $826,618,000 after acquiring an additional 396,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Royal Gold by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,952,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $434,063,000 after acquiring an additional 78,344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RGLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. National Bank Financial cut their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group set a $325.00 price target on Royal Gold and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Royal Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.70.

Royal Gold Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $221.53 on Wednesday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.75 and a 12 month high of $306.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $235.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.04. The company has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.41.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.85, for a total value of $107,925.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,424.70. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Company 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.