National Bank Financial Equities Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) – Research analysts at National Bank Financial lifted their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Royal Gold in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 18th. National Bank Financial analyst S. Nagle now expects that the basic materials company will earn $0.98 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.87. National Bank Financial currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Royal Gold’s current full-year earnings is $4.32 per share.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.20. Royal Gold had a net margin of 39.53% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $152.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Royal Gold’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Royal Gold from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $148.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $117.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.25.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD opened at $120.41 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $113.87 and its 200-day moving average is $114.54. Royal Gold has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $147.82. The firm has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $56,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,351. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 52,578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,360,000 after acquiring an additional 8,550 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,238,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,138,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 236,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,160,000 after purchasing an additional 51,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,825,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.