Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Royal Gold to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Royal Gold Stock Up 2.3 %

RGLD stock opened at $143.61 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $137.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.17. Royal Gold has a 52-week low of $100.55 and a 52-week high of $145.59. The company has a market capitalization of $9.44 billion, a PE ratio of 42.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $174.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 39.15% and a return on equity of 8.74%. The company’s revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Gold will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.20%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total value of $645,426.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,042,503.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total value of $58,452.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,194 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,124.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total value of $645,426.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,042,503.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,355 shares of company stock valued at $1,170,315 in the last three months. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Royal Gold by 1,800.2% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 19,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,306,000 after purchasing an additional 18,344 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 151.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 15,012 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $1,239,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 55,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,746,000 after purchasing an additional 14,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the first quarter worth $3,315,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.