RGLD to Reduce Debt & Optimize Portfolio With Versamet Shares Sale

Royal Gold, Inc. (RGLD) announced that its fully-owned subsidiary, International Royalty Corporation (“IRC”), has inked a deal to sell 11,827,273 common shares of Versamet Royalties Corporation to Tether Investments and 11,827,272 shares to Nemesia S.à.r.l. The deal is priced at C$8.75 ($6.23) per share, which will help Royal Gold with debt repayment.

Details of RGLD’s Sale of Versamet Shares

IRC received the Versamet shares after the merger between IRC and a successor company to Sandstorm Gold in October 2025. Royal Gold identified the Versamet shares as non-core and not material assets from the Sandstorm Gold buyout. Selling these shares aligns with the company’s goal to optimize its portfolio.

Royal Gold currently owns 23,654,545 Versamet shares, which is about 25% of all outstanding Versamet common shares without dilution. Post the completion of the deal, Royal Gold will have no control over any Versamet shares or convertible securities.

Royal Gold’s Q3 Performance

RGLD reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.06 in the third quarter of 2025. The company had reported an EPS of $1.47 in the year-ago quarter. However, it missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.30.

RGLD generated record revenues of $252 million, up 30% year over year. The upside was driven by higher average metal prices, gold sales from Andacollo and Rainy River, and higher production from Peñasquito. However, these factors were offset by lower gold sales from Xavantina.

On Oct. 20, 2025, RGLD completed the previously announced acquisition of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and Horizon Copper Corp. Sandstorm and Horizon’s results were not included in the company’s third-quarter 2025 financials.

Sandstorm reported revenues of $57.5 million in the third quarter, while Horizon’s revenues for the quarter were $6 million.

RGLD Stock’s Price Performance

In the past year, shares of Royal Gold have gained 27.2% compared with the industry’s growth of 109.9%.

Royal Gold’s Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

RGLD currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are OR Royalties Inc. (OR), Newmont Corporation (NEM) and First Majestic Silver Corp. (AG). While OR and NEM sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, AG carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The consensus estimate for OR Royalties’ 2025 earnings is pegged at 82 cents per share. The estimate indicates year-over-year growth of 57.7%. OR Royalties’ shares have surged 67.8% in a year.

The consensus estimate for Newmont’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $5.96 per share. The estimate indicates year-over-year growth of 71.3%. It has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 41.6%. Newmont’ shares have surged 109% in a year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for First Majestic Silver’s 2025 earnings is pegged at 25 cents per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 278%. First Majestic Silver’s shares jumped 75.3% last year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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