Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 19,603 Royal Gold, Inc. $RGLD

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 19,603 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,358,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 7.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 678,732 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 25.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,681,577 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 18.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 905,488 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 11.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 396,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 4.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 78,344 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,000 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.74, for a total transaction of $243,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,213,646.68. This trade represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $325.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. National Bank Financial cut their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.70.

Royal Gold Stock Up 3.8%

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $215.52 on Tuesday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.75 and a 52 week high of $306.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $236.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

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

About Royal Gold

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.