Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Stock Position in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 9.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 293.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on RY. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 20th. UBS Group began coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.00.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

NYSE:RY traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $115.99. The company had a trading volume of 71,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,103,055. The company has a market capitalization of $164.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Royal Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of $77.90 and a 52-week high of $116.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $109.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.82.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $10.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.95 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.12%. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. 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 is currently 51.49%.

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.