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

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $209.60 and last traded at $209.42, with a volume of 1070178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $203.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Sunday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

Royal Gold Stock Up 3.1%

The company has a current ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $17.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.77, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.51.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $250.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 55.99% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Royal Gold by 14.8% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 26,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,280,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 160,453 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,236,000 after buying an additional 24,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,735 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

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.