First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RY. Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 67,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,856,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 480,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,863,000 after buying an additional 15,041 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 984,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,785,000 after buying an additional 50,995 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 163.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 160,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,271,000 after buying an additional 99,523 shares during the period. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 836,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,547,000 after acquiring an additional 16,964 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

RY traded up $1.50 on Thursday, hitting $109.02. 473,703 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 690,894. The firm has a market cap of $154.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.86. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $77.90 and a twelve month high of $109.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.12. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The company had revenue of $10.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.95 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 25th. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on RY. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.25.

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.