Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $156.25 and last traded at $155.38, with a volume of 87673 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on RGLD. Raymond James boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.90.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth $570,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $868,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Allianz Polska S.A. acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $298,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $314,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 266,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,083,000 after buying an additional 29,923 shares during the period. 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.