Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on RY. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$157.00 to C$154.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$178.00 to C$180.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$162.00 to C$180.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. National Bankshares upped their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$169.00 to C$181.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on Royal Bank of Canada from C$166.00 to C$167.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$171.58.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of TSE RY opened at C$174.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of C$246.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$170.00 and its 200-day moving average is C$156.75. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of C$115.57 and a 1-year high of C$175.32.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported C$3.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$2.95 by C$0.31. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 28.67% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business had revenue of C$14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$14.27 billion. Analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 12.3454675 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is 50.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Ian Mckay sold 74,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$164.59, for a total transaction of C$12,320,115.24. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Antony Guzman sold 7,500 shares of Royal Bank of Canada stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$166.96, for a total transaction of C$1,252,207.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$4,174.03. The trade was a 99.67 % decrease in their position. In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,770 shares of company stock worth $23,959,265.

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.