Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $325.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on RGLD. Zacks Research downgraded Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank cut Royal Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.64.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $268.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.34. Royal Gold has a 12-month low of $150.75 and a 12-month high of $306.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). The business had revenue of $310.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 45.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, Director William M. Hayes sold 4,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.07, for a total transaction of $1,156,213.11. Following the sale, the director owned 6,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,698,162.03. This represents a 40.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.87, for a total value of $421,218.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,059,521.80. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,573 shares of company stock worth $2,127,091 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Royal Gold by 52.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,928,000 after buying an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth $3,938,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $1,068,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 275.8% in the 3rd quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 6,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 4,885 shares during the period. Finally, Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $16,636,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.