Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $159.23 and last traded at $156.01, with a volume of 74393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $168.86.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold in the third quarter worth $62,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 479,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,223,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 92.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 44,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,284,000 after acquiring an additional 21,510 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.