Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Price Target Cut to $170.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $175.00 to $170.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's target price would indicate a potential upside of 2.20% from the company's current price.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.75.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of RGLD traded up $10.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $166.33. The stock had a trading volume of 421,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 396,288. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.84. Royal Gold has a 1-year low of $118.00 and a 1-year high of $169.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. Equities analysts predict that Royal Gold will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company'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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold by 17,722.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 457,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $74,806,000 after acquiring an additional 454,934 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,825,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,009,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,536,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 181.6% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 302,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,846,000 after acquiring an additional 194,905 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.