Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on RY. Scotiabank upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an equal weight rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $133.25.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 1.4 %

RY stock opened at $109.02 on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of $77.90 and a 1-year high of $109.60. The firm has a market cap of $154.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.15 and its 200-day moving average is $100.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.12. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.12%. The company had revenue of $10.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.95 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 67,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,856,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 480,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,863,000 after buying an additional 15,041 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 984,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,785,000 after buying an additional 50,995 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 163.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 160,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,271,000 after buying an additional 99,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 836,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,547,000 after buying an additional 16,964 shares during the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.