Royal Gold (RGLD) Earnings Beat Estimates In Q2, Rise Y/Y

Royal Gold, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:RGLD) adjusted earnings per share of 36 cents per share in second-quarter fiscal 2019 (ended Dec 31, 2018) beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. The company had reported a loss per share of 23 cents in the prior-year quarter.

Revenues of $97.6 million in the quarter declined about 14.6% from $114.3 million reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues declined due to lower average gold, silver and copper prices as well as a drop in overall sales and production.

Royal Gold, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Operational Highlights

Royal Gold’s volume of 79,600 GEOs (Gold Equivalent Ounces) declined 11.3% from the prior-year quarter. Average gold price declined 3.8% to $1,226 per ounce from the year-ago quarter.

The company reported costs of sales of $18.2 million in the reported quarter, down from the year-ago quarter $19.8 million. General and administrative expenses contracted to $7.4 million, compared with $9.6 million a year ago. Operating profit declined 23% year over year to $31 million.

Financial Position

Net cash provided by operating activities was around $59 million in second-quarter 2019 compared with $76 million in the prior-year quarter. The company ended the quarter with roughly $157 million cash in hand, up from $89 million at fiscal 2018-end. As of the quarter-end, the company’s total debt was $359 million, up from $351 million at fiscal 2018-end. The company has paid dividends worth $16.4 million during the quarter.

In the past year, Royal Gold’s stock has gained 7% outperforming the industry’s gain of 1.5%.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Royal Gold carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) currently.

A few better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) plc (NYSE:RIO) , Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) and Israel Chemicals Ltd (NYSE:ICL) . While Rio Tinto currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Cameco and Israel Chemicals carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Rio Tinto has an expected earnings growth rate of 5.1% for 2019. The company’s shares have moved up 8.4% in the past year.

Cameco has an expected earnings growth rate of 18.5% for 2019. Its shares have surged 42.1% in a year’s time.

Israel Chemicals has an expected earnings growth rate of 11.1% for 2019. Its shares have rallied 43.7% in a year’s time.

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