Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $174.75.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RGLD. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Monday.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD opened at $181.80 on Tuesday. Royal Gold has a fifty-two week low of $118.00 and a fifty-two week high of $183.95. The stock has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.80.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. Equities research analysts predict that Royal Gold will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,254,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold by 145.3% in the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 8,698 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% in the first quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 20,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the first quarter worth $324,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.