Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$236.66 and last traded at C$235.94, with a volume of 329326 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$234.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$229.00 to C$245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$225.00 to C$238.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from C$215.00 to C$246.00 in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$229.00 to C$239.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, National Bankshares raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from C$203.00 to C$231.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$228.92.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Up 1.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of C$333.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$218.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$201.11.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The financial services provider reported C$3.85 EPS for the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 28.23% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The business had revenue of C$17.21 billion for the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 12.3454675 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 27th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Bank of Canada

In related news, Director David Ian Mckay sold 91,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$228.75, for a total transaction of C$20,882,130.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,343,448.75. This trade represents a 93.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

About Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada is one of the two largest banks in Canada. It is a diversified financial services company, offering personal and commercial banking, wealth-management services, insurance, corporate banking, and capital markets services. The bank is concentrated in Canada, with additional operations in the U.S. and other countries.