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

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $156.50.

Several brokerages have commented on RY. Barclays upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Finally, TD Securities cut Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Institutional Trading of Royal Bank of Canada

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,866,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,834,000 after buying an additional 7,702,585 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 165.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,896,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804,022 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter worth $153,217,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% during 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. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 18.2% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,336,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,925,000 after purchasing an additional 359,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

RY stock opened at $119.07 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.41. The company has a market capitalization of $168.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $93.97 and a fifty-two week high of $128.05.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.0522 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $4.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 49.76%.

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.