Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperformer rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Royal Gold to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four 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 $157.00.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $143.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 42.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.90. Royal Gold has a one year low of $100.55 and a one year high of $145.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $137.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.05.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $174.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 39.15% and a return on equity of 8.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $645,426.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,042,503.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $645,426.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,042,503.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.53, for a total value of $213,795.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,659,182.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,355 shares of company stock worth $1,170,315 over the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 321.8% in the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 426 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in Royal Gold by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Royal Gold by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the second quarter worth $62,000. 83.65% of the stock is 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.