Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Receives $165.43 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $165.43.

RGLD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,859.40. This represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Royal Gold by 6.3% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $427,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.8% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,756 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the second quarter worth approximately $323,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $146.93 on Wednesday. Royal Gold has a 52 week low of $100.55 and a 52 week high of $155.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $146.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Gold will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

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.