Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Securities lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

NYSE:RY opened at $118.17 on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of $95.84 and a 1 year high of $128.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $120.14 and a 200-day moving average of $121.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.87.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.0251 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.76%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Bank of Canada

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 4th quarter worth $2,425,519,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,382,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,027,061,000 after buying an additional 1,991,364 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 165.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,804,022 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1,600.9% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,427,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,084,000 after buying an additional 1,343,174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

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.