Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Raised to Hold at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on RGLD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $184.90 on Tuesday. Royal Gold has a 52-week low of $118.00 and a 52-week high of $191.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.34. The firm has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. 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.