Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Director Mark Isto Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) Director Mark Isto sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.83, for a total value of $549,660.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,508,417.69. The trade was a 9.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ RGLD traded down $7.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $262.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 381,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 943,212. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $150.75 and a 12 month high of $306.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 2.91. The company has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.48.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by ($0.76). The firm had revenue of $360.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.47 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 45.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 85.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RGLD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $261.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Scotiabank lowered Royal Gold from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $335.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Sunday, December 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $251.50.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Prospera Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,068,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. raised its stake in Royal Gold by 275.8% in the third quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 6,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after buying an additional 4,885 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in Royal Gold in the second quarter worth about $1,397,000. Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,636,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC grew its position in Royal Gold by 576.4% during the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 35,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,044,000 after purchasing an additional 29,927 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

About Royal Gold

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.