Brokerages Set Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Target Price at $220.44

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $220.4444.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on RGLD shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Royal Gold Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $174.67 on Friday. Royal Gold has a 12-month low of $130.67 and a 12-month high of $209.42. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $189.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.29.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.11. Royal Gold had a net margin of 56.24% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The firm had revenue of $209.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Gold will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 17th. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the first quarter worth about $204,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,471 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,743,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $509,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 4,545.5% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.