Zacks Research Downgrades Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) to Strong Sell

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. National Bank Financial cut their target price on Royal Gold from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a "neutral" rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank downgraded Royal Gold from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $335.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group set a $325.00 price objective on Royal Gold and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $273.64.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $236.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $258.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.21. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 3.12. Royal Gold has a fifty-two week low of $150.75 and a fifty-two week high of $306.25.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). The company had revenue of $310.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 11.89%. The business's revenue was up 85.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Gold will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total value of $421,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 20,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,059,521.80. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 20,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,508,417.69. The trade was a 9.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,573 shares of company stock worth $2,127,091 in the last ninety days. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. McAlvany Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. McAlvany Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,626 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,849,000 after purchasing an additional 4,233 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the 1st quarter worth about $1,106,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 165,315 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,948,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 245 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,459 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.