Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $173.00 and last traded at $170.97, with a volume of 921905 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $164.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.75.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $153.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. On average, equities analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at about $741,000. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Royal Gold by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $63,843,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $455,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.