Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $178.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $154.00.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on RGLD. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities upped their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Stock Up 0.8 %

RGLD opened at $133.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $142.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90. Royal Gold has a 12-month low of $100.55 and a 12-month high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Royal Gold’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Gold will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,950. This represents a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 61.1% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 51.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.