Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Upgraded to Sector Outperform at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Scotiabank currently has $189.00 price target on the basic materials company's stock, up from their prior price target of $166.00.

RGLD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $184.90. 566,791 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 403,132. The company's fifty day moving average is $157.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.64. Royal Gold has a fifty-two week low of $118.00 and a fifty-two week high of $191.22. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. Research analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold's payout ratio is 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 26,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,659,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $185,454,000 after buying an additional 33,151 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the third quarter valued at about $474,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $591,000. 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.