Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Plans Dividend Increase – $1.05 Per Share

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be paid a dividend of 1.0522 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, February 24th. This represents a $4.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This is a boost from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03.

Royal Bank of Canada has raised its dividend by an average of 7.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Royal Bank of Canada has a dividend payout ratio of 44.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Royal Bank of Canada to earn $9.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.8%.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Royal Bank of Canada stock traded up $2.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $128.02. The company had a trading volume of 716,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,141. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $90.71 and a fifty-two week high of $128.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $180.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.50.

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.