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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock 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 issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $149.64 and its 200 day moving average is $145.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued 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 net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. Analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Gold

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $741,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Royal Gold by 213.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after buying an additional 5,480 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,843,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $455,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.