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

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.43.

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

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold 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 transaction of $52,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $986,897.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Royal Gold by 19.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,550 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,238,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,138,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Royal Gold by 28.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 236,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,160,000 after buying an additional 51,795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Royal Gold by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 247,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,891,000 after acquiring an additional 7,334 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $123.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.54. Royal Gold has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $143.89.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

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

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.