Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $276.58 and last traded at $271.8080, with a volume of 156641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $265.12.

RGLD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $261.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. CIBC increased their price target on Royal Gold from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Gold

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RGLD. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Royal Gold by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 25,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,586,000 after buying an additional 4,344 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at $415,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.59 billion, a PE ratio of 38.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.95.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $250.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.11 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 55.99% and a return on equity of 14.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.10%.

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.