Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $148.99, but opened at $145.04. Royal Gold shares last traded at $146.33, with a volume of 5,929 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RGLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Securities lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.43.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $145.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.73.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The firm had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 36.70%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other news, CFO Paul Libner sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,659,182.21. This represents a 7.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,324 shares of company stock worth $626,023. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Royal Gold by 15.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.