StockNews.com Downgrades Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) to Hold

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

RGLD has been the subject of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. CIBC raised their price objective on Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Cibc World Mkts raised Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.00.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $140.82 on Wednesday. Royal Gold has a fifty-two week low of $100.55 and a fifty-two week high of $142.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.30. The company has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.54, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $174.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 39.15% and a return on equity of 8.74%. Royal Gold’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Royal Gold will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other news, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.53, for a total value of $213,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,659,182.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 4,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.31, for a total transaction of $645,426.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,042,503.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.53, for a total transaction of $213,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,659,182.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,515 shares of company stock valued at $1,049,834 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,169,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $988,149,000 after purchasing an additional 47,807 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,664,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $811,861,000 after acquiring an additional 21,407 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 6.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,595,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,807,000 after acquiring an additional 292,357 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,667,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $443,581,000 after acquiring an additional 37,885 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 34.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,507,000 after purchasing an additional 212,316 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.