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

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $203.18 and last traded at $200.09, with a volume of 1084613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RGLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $237.00 price target (up from $229.00) on shares of Royal Gold in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $203.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Royal Gold from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.63.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.41.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $209.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.63 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 56.24%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in Royal Gold by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 5,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. BCS Wealth Management raised its position in Royal Gold by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 20,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC raised its position in Royal Gold by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,586 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 56.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by 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.