Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Royal Gold Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.63, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $154.43 and its 200-day moving average is $146.51.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC raised its position in Royal Gold by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 21,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 12,894 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,700,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Royal Gold by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 21,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is 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.