Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Position in Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 15.0%, selling 3,316 shares, bringing its total to 18,834 shares valued at approximately $2.12 million.
• The Royal Bank of Canada announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.1152, with a dividend yield of 3.4%, indicating continued commitment to returning value to shareholders.
• Recent analyst rating changes include Barclays maintaining an "overweight" rating, while Wall Street Zen downgraded its rating from "hold" to "sell," reflecting mixed sentiments from analysts.

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its position in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY - Free Report) TSE: RY by 15.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,316 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Royal Bank Of Canada were worth $2,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RY. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Royal Bank Of Canada in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Royal Bank Of Canada by 2,272.7% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 261 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in Royal Bank Of Canada during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Royal Bank Of Canada during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in Royal Bank Of Canada by 295.4% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 344 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Royal Bank Of Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Monday, June 9th. CIBC reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Royal Bank Of Canada from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 31st. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Royal Bank Of Canada presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $193.00.

Royal Bank Of Canada Price Performance

NYSE:RY traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $134.74. 796,799 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,245,054. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $130.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.41. Royal Bank Of Canada has a 1 year low of $106.10 and a 1 year high of $135.09. The company has a market cap of $189.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.89.

Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.25 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $11.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.77 billion. Royal Bank Of Canada had a net margin of 13.37% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The firm's revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Bank Of Canada will post 9.16 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank Of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given a dividend of $1.1152 per share. This represents a $4.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Royal Bank Of Canada's previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.33%.

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.