Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Upgraded to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $178.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $154.00.

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

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $133.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $142.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.68. Royal Gold has a 1 year low of $100.55 and a 1 year high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The company had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is 41.28%.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

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

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the second quarter worth about $1,673,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Royal Gold by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,303,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Royal Gold by 2.5% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 4.2% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 59,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,495,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.