Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $165.43.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RGLD. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $58,452.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,124.90. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,042,503.30. This trade represents a 38.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,339 shares of company stock valued at $1,329,902. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,664,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $811,861,000 after purchasing an additional 21,407 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,637,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $553,810,000 after buying an additional 39,394 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,584,967 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $448,694,000 after buying an additional 20,508 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 34.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,507,000 after buying an additional 212,316 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 806,872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,991,000 after acquiring an additional 156,048 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $140.24 on Friday. Royal Gold has a 1 year low of $100.55 and a 1 year high of $155.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $144.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Royal Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.70%.

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.