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

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $276.58 and last traded at $271.8080, with a volume of 156641 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $265.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RGLD. TD Cowen upped their target price on Royal Gold from $261.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial set a $264.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

Royal Gold Stock Up 2.0%

The stock has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $217.28 and its 200-day moving average is $191.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 55.99% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.10%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,055,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,816,267,000 after purchasing an additional 93,282 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 104.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,994,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,001,885,000 after buying an additional 2,547,076 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,321,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $666,300,000 after buying an additional 170,430 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 8.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,140,000 after buying an additional 137,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Royal Gold by 3.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,751,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $311,457,000 after acquiring an additional 61,352 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.