Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $191.22 and last traded at $186.45, with a volume of 1069272 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $185.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RGLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $196.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

Royal Gold Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a fifty day moving average of $157.56 and a 200-day moving average of $147.64. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,773,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,156,842,000 after purchasing an additional 37,648 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,651,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $877,058,000 after acquiring an additional 89,298 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,029,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $135,730,000 after acquiring an additional 168,569 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 997,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $131,412,000 after acquiring an additional 152,599 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Royal Gold by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 877,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $115,735,000 after purchasing an additional 49,206 shares during 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.