Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $141.43.

RGLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Royal Gold from $163.00 to $162.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Royal Gold from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $123.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.18. Royal Gold has a 1-year low of $100.55 and a 1-year high of $143.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $116.93 and a 200-day moving average of $115.54.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $152.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.32 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 39.53% and a return on equity of 8.18%. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Gold will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In related news, VP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.18, for a total value of $52,090.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 9,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $986,897.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 52,578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,360,000 after buying an additional 8,550 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth $2,238,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the third quarter valued at $1,138,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 28.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 247,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,891,000 after purchasing an additional 7,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.