Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Short Interest Update

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a decrease of 21.1% from the June 30th total of 2,990,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 356,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $135.09. 250,104 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 298,819. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.50. Royal Gold has a 52 week low of $100.55 and a 52 week high of $140.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.16.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $148.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.02 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 38.12%. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Gold will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on RGLD. Cibc World Mkts raised Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.75.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.73, for a total transaction of $196,095.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,940,033.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Royal Gold by 224.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 609,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,276,000 after acquiring an additional 422,026 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,595,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,807,000 after buying an additional 292,357 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth $33,696,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,507,000 after buying an additional 212,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 12,032.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,219,000 after buying an additional 182,171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

About Royal Gold

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.