Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Sets New 1-Year High at $102.12

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $102.12 and last traded at $102.01, with a volume of 89848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $100.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on RY. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.35. The company has a market capitalization of $142.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.10 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.43%. Sell-side 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $1.0207 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada's payout ratio is currently 37.66%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Bank of Canada

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RY. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 817,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $90,144,000 after buying an additional 41,346 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 7,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 23,498 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 47.1% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomas White International Ltd. boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Thomas White International Ltd. now owns 15,778 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.