Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Royal Gold has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 12 brokerages, with an average 12-month target price of about $273.64.
• The stock was trading down 3.2% at $218.93, well below its recent moving averages, and the company reported a weaker-than-expected latest quarter with EPS of $1.92 versus $2.68 expected and revenue of $310.83 million versus $425.47 million expected.
• Royal Gold continues to return cash to shareholders with a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, while institutional investors own 83.65% of the stock and insiders have recently sold shares.

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $273.6364.

Several research analysts have weighed in on RGLD shares. Scotiabank downgraded Royal Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $335.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $325.00 target price on Royal Gold and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th.

Royal Gold Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $218.93 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $249.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.48. Royal Gold has a twelve month low of $150.75 and a twelve month high of $306.25. The company has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.68 by ($0.76). Royal Gold had a net margin of 48.59% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $310.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $425.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 85.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 11.65 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total value of $549,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,508,417.69. This trade represents a 9.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total value of $421,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,059,521.80. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,573 shares of company stock valued at $2,370,831 over the last 90 days. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,733,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,163,732,000 after buying an additional 678,732 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,398,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,867,001,000 after buying an additional 1,681,577 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,900,432 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,311,607,000 after buying an additional 905,488 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,718,646 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $826,618,000 after buying an additional 396,778 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,952,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $434,063,000 after buying an additional 78,344 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a leading precious metals streaming and royalty company. Through its business model, Royal Gold provides upfront financing to mining operators in exchange for the right to purchase a percentage of future metal production at predetermined prices. This structure allows the company to participate in production upside while minimizing exposure to the operating and capital-intensive aspects of mine ownership.

The company's portfolio encompasses interests in over 200 streams and royalties on projects across North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia.

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