Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Upgraded to “Outperform” at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $158.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $148.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. National Bank Financial upgraded Royal Gold from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They set a hold rating and a $117.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Royal Gold from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $145.67.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD opened at $119.19 on Wednesday. Royal Gold has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $147.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $111.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.20. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 39.53%. The firm had revenue of $152.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Royal Gold will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $56,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,351. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Royal Gold by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,643,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $803,606,000 after purchasing an additional 22,921 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Royal Gold by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 46,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,606,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its position in Royal Gold by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Royal Gold by 274.8% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Royal Gold by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 27,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,367,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.