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

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a decrease of 39.7% from the November 15th total of 2,370,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 358,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock traded down $2.76 on Thursday, hitting $151.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 61,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 370,368. The company has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $146.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.13. Royal Gold has a 1 year low of $100.55 and a 1 year high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RGLD. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. The trade was a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 840 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.43, for a total transaction of $120,481.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,648.06. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,373 shares of company stock valued at $494,578 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Royal Gold by 2.3% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.5% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.