Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Upgraded to "Sector Outperform" at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $189.00 target price on the basic materials company's stock, up from their previous target price of $166.00.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on RGLD. 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. Raymond James lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.00.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of RGLD stock traded down $1.55 during trading on Monday, hitting $184.90. 566,791 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 402,883. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. Royal Gold has a 52-week low of $118.00 and a 52-week high of $191.22. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $157.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.64.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Royal Gold will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

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

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.