BMO Capital Markets Begins Coverage on Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) in a report issued on Wednesday. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $196.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised 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. Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $189.00 in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on 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 raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $184.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. Royal Gold has a one year low of $118.00 and a one year high of $191.22. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.34.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Royal Gold will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the third quarter valued at $474,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at about $591,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Royal Gold by 303.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,063,000 after buying an additional 21,468 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 4,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. 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.