Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $156.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on RY. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Securities downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RY opened at $118.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $122.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of $93.97 and a 1-year high of $128.05.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $1.0522 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This is a boost from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,866,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702,585 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,622,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,833,000 after buying an additional 124,348 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,127,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,289,274,000 after buying an additional 256,023 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,504,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,118,150,000 after acquiring an additional 190,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,390,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,616,000 after acquiring an additional 541,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Company Profile

Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses.