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

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $168.86.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Royal Gold by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,931 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Royal Gold by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Royal Gold by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 479,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Price Performance

RGLD opened at $155.29 on Friday. Royal Gold has a 12 month low of $108.95 and a 12 month high of $158.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.71.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

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.