Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Position in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 992,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,982 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.07% of Royal Bank of Canada worth $100,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 11,061.2% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 151,142,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,285,031,000 after purchasing an additional 149,788,224 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,730,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,534,910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,603,427 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 32,571,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,010,000 after acquiring an additional 5,810,077 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 28,024,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,869,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,718,631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

NYSE:RY traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $110.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 665,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,580. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $111.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $156.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.17 and its 200-day moving average is $101.48.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $10.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.95 billion. Equities 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. 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 presently 50.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RY. UBS Group assumed coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Scotiabank upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.