Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Downgraded to Hold Rating by TD Securities

TD Securities cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $151.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of RY traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $121.47. 1,969,208 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,096,290. The company has a market capitalization of $171.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $85.02 and a twelve month high of $126.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $123.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.72.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $10.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.28%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th will be given a $1.028 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $4.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Bank of Canada

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RY. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,390,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,616,000 after purchasing an additional 541,760 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter valued at about $42,072,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,211,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Company Profile

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.