Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $234.60.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RGLD shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. CIBC raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $264.00 price objective on Royal Gold in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 target price on Royal Gold and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter worth $1,397,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1,124.0% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 109,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,512,000 after buying an additional 100,887 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Royal Gold by 75.1% during the first quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 207,155 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,872,000 after acquiring an additional 88,828 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the second quarter worth about $587,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,140,000 after acquiring an additional 137,524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $232.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.07. Royal Gold has a 12 month low of $130.67 and a 12 month high of $234.38.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $250.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 55.99%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Royal Gold will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 24.73%.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.