Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $299.60 and last traded at $296.0250, with a volume of 127038 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $293.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Raymond James Financial set a $264.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.50.

Royal Gold Stock Up 2.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.89 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.82. The stock has a market cap of $25.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.38, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.49.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $250.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 55.99% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 3,713.1% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 86,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,325,000 after acquiring an additional 84,658 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 181 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Royal Gold by 123.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 35,031 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,787,000 after purchasing an additional 19,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.