Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $178.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $154.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 34.29% from the stock’s previous close.

RGLD has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $132.55 on Tuesday. Royal Gold has a twelve month low of $100.55 and a twelve month high of $155.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $142.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,950. This represents a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,637,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $553,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,394 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,584,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $448,694,000 after acquiring an additional 20,508 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $185,454,000 after acquiring an additional 33,151 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 806,872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,991,000 after purchasing an additional 156,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 38.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 483,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,514,000 after purchasing an additional 134,120 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.