Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $260.5556.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank lowered Royal Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock opened at $262.63 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $268.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Royal Gold has a 52 week low of $150.75 and a 52 week high of $306.25.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.68 by ($0.76). The company had revenue of $310.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 45.26%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Gold will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 27.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total value of $549,660.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,508,417.69. This represents a 9.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.07, for a total transaction of $1,156,213.11. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,129 shares in the company, valued at $1,698,162.03. The trade was a 40.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,573 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,091. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 99.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 168,846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,608,000 after purchasing an additional 84,206 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 51.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 8,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,627,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 53.9% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,023,000 after buying an additional 9,888 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 107.5% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Company Profile

Royal Gold, Inc, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a leading precious metals streaming and royalty company. Through its business model, Royal Gold provides upfront financing to mining operators in exchange for the right to purchase a percentage of future metal production at predetermined prices. This structure allows the company to participate in production upside while minimizing exposure to the operating and capital-intensive aspects of mine ownership.

The company’s portfolio encompasses interests in over 200 streams and royalties on projects across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.