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

Key Points

• Royal Gold has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 13 brokerages, with nine buys, three holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $280.27.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed but generally positive: UBS, Jefferies and National Bank Financial maintained buy or outperform ratings, while several firms lowered their price targets.
• Royal Gold announced a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, or $1.90 annualized, yielding approximately 1.0%. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company.

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $280.2727.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on RGLD shares. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. National Bank Financial lowered their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $325.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $318.00 to $311.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royal Gold from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $198.35 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.44. Royal Gold has a one year low of $150.99 and a one year high of $306.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $205.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $241.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.52.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Gold's payout ratio is presently 22.65%.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.74, for a total value of $243,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,082 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,213,646.68. This represents a 9.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,681,577 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth $332,026,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 89.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,855,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $412,543,000 after buying an additional 874,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 457.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 925,906 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $205,820,000 after acquiring an additional 759,810 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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