Candriam S.C.A. Increases Stock Position in Royal Bank Of Canada $RY

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 34.5% in the first quarter, adding 59,590 shares to bring its total to 232,260 shares worth about $37.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: Royal Bank of Canada has a Moderate Buy consensus, with 10 Buy ratings and 4 Hold ratings, and an average price target of $225.
• The bank reported better-than-expected earnings of $2.84 per share and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.76 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $7.04 and a yield of about 3.3%.

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY - Free Report) TSE: RY by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 232,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 59,590 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Royal Bank Of Canada were worth $37,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 60.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,779 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 4,460 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 57.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 39.1% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,555 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 3,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 47,721 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,279,000 after buying an additional 3,928 shares during the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded Royal Bank Of Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus set a $225.00 price target on Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Thursday, June 11th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Royal Bank Of Canada from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank Of Canada has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.00.

Royal Bank Of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of RY opened at $211.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $293.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.80. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $194.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.92. Royal Bank Of Canada has a 12 month low of $127.38 and a 12 month high of $211.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $12.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.74 billion. Royal Bank Of Canada had a return on equity of 17.68% and a net margin of 15.92%.The company's revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Royal Bank Of Canada will post 11.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank Of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be given a $1.76 dividend. 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. This represents a $7.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Royal Bank Of Canada's payout ratio is presently 42.41%.

Royal Bank Of Canada 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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