Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $156.50.

RY has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Barclays upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Securities lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Down 1.2 %

RY opened at $117.94 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $121.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.59. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $93.97 and a twelve month high of $128.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $166.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.87.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is 49.76%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Bank of Canada

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RY. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 165.1% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,804,022 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the third quarter valued at approximately $153,217,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,112,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,156,000 after purchasing an additional 921,276 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,429,000. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.