Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Holdings Cut by America First Investment Advisors LLC

America First Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,838 shares during the quarter. Royal Gold makes up 4.6% of America First Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. America First Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.24% of Royal Gold worth $21,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $877,058,000 after purchasing an additional 89,298 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $185,454,000 after buying an additional 33,151 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,843,000 after buying an additional 5,067 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 221,771 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,241,000 after buying an additional 4,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Royal Gold by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 179,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,605,000 after acquiring an additional 3,286 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $160.23 on Wednesday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.01 and a 1 year high of $162.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $147.29 and its 200-day moving average is $144.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

Royal Gold 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.