Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on RGLD. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $157.00.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $143.19 on Wednesday. Royal Gold has a 52 week low of $100.55 and a 52 week high of $145.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $136.10 and a 200-day moving average of $126.40.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 47.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Gold news, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,124.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.43, for a total value of $120,481.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,842 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,648.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronald J. Vance sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.85, for a total transaction of $58,452.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,124.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,355 shares of company stock worth $1,170,315. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Royal Gold by 224.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 609,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,276,000 after purchasing an additional 422,026 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,595,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,807,000 after buying an additional 292,357 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,696,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Royal Gold by 34.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,507,000 after buying an additional 212,316 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $20,675,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.