Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $164.23 and last traded at $163.83, with a volume of 344710 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $162.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $149.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Gold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 59,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,879,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Royal Gold by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,225 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,745,000. Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $244,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $570,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.