Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $178.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $154.00.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on RGLD. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $168.86.

Royal Gold Price Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.63. The stock had a trading volume of 376,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,079. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90. Royal Gold has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $155.10.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Royal Gold will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is an increase from Royal Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value 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 approximately $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of Royal Gold 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This trade 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.