Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $178.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $154.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 34.29% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Securities increased their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $132.55 on Tuesday. Royal Gold has a 12-month low of $100.55 and a 12-month high of $155.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.61. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The company had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Gold will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,950. This represents a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 123 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.