Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) Reaches New 1-Year High on Strong Earnings

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $155.49 and last traded at $155.18, with a volume of 259349 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $147.19.

The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.86.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Trading Up 5.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.00.

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.