Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on RGLD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. CIBC lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

Royal Gold Price Performance

RGLD opened at $277.70 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $219.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.34. Royal Gold has a twelve month low of $135.68 and a twelve month high of $277.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.49.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $250.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 55.99% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Royal Gold will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 104.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,994,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,001,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547,076 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 2nd quarter valued at $68,029,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 1,090.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 319,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,811,000 after purchasing an additional 292,611 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Royal Gold by 52.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 833,181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $148,173,000 after purchasing an additional 286,268 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the second quarter worth $45,184,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.