Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to Outperform

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Free Report) TSE: RY from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $150.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock, up from their prior price target of $140.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a hold rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America raised Royal Bank of Canada from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an equal weight rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $137.67.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada stock traded up $1.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $102.36. 784,675 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,231,265. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $102.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.48.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.05. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.10 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.5 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, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $1.0207 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. Royal Bank of Canada's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RY. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 11,061.2% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 151,142,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,285,031,000 after buying an additional 149,788,224 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the fourth quarter worth about $1,898,970,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 32,571,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,310,010,000 after buying an additional 5,810,077 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the fourth quarter worth about $365,246,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 13.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 26,666,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,330,506,000 after buying an additional 3,062,038 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.31% of the company's stock.

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.