Analysts Set Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Target Price at $137.67

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $137.67.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Royal Bank of Canada from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Barclays started coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th.

Institutional Trading of Royal Bank of Canada

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 11,061.2% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 151,142,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,285,031,000 after buying an additional 149,788,224 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,730,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,534,910,000 after buying an additional 1,603,427 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 32,571,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,010,000 after buying an additional 5,810,077 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 28,024,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,219,000 after buying an additional 1,357,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,869,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,718,631,000 after buying an additional 1,369,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of RY opened at $98.53 on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $103.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $98.94 and its 200 day moving average is $93.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $139.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.10 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.43%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.0207 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.66%.

About Royal Bank of Canada

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.