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

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $235.80 and last traded at $233.50, with a volume of 2692 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $233.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $240.00 price target on Royal Gold and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Sunday, December 7th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.60.

Royal Gold Trading Up 0.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $19.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $196.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.07.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 14.14% and a net margin of 55.99%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.73%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at about $810,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 4.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Royal Gold by 692.2% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,970 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 80.3% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 3,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,607,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.