Alberta Investment Management Corp Raises Holdings in Royal Bank Of Canada $RY

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 99,000 shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,901,887 shares valued at about $324.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased positions in RY, and overall 45.31% of the stock is owned by institutions.
• Royal Bank of Canada reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.84 per share and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.76 per share, implying an annualized yield of 3.5%.

Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY - Free Report) TSE: RY by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,901,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 99,000 shares during the period. Royal Bank Of Canada makes up about 1.7% of Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned 0.14% of Royal Bank Of Canada worth $324,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in RY. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Royal Bank Of Canada by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 96,234 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,407,000 after buying an additional 15,046 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in Royal Bank Of Canada by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 325,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,480,000 after buying an additional 26,782 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,373,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,086,601,000 after acquiring an additional 368,534 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,275,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,219,924,000 after acquiring an additional 287,504 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 4,854,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $715,227,000 after acquiring an additional 99,966 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Bank Of Canada Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RY opened at $201.66 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $185.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $280.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.81. Royal Bank Of Canada has a 12 month low of $126.02 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.74 billion. Royal Bank Of Canada had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 15.92%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Bank Of Canada will post 11.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank Of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be given a dividend of $1.76 per share. This represents a $7.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. This is a positive change from Royal Bank Of Canada's previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on RY shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Royal Bank Of Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Royal Bank Of Canada from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.00.

Royal Bank Of Canada Company Profile

Royal Bank of Canada NYSE: RY is a diversified financial services company and one of Canada's largest banks. Founded in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the firm is now headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutional clients through a network of branches, digital platforms and international offices.

RBC operates across several principal business segments including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor and treasury services, capital markets, and global asset management.

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