Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY - Get Free Report) NYSE: RY have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$184.54.

RY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$195.00 to C$180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$198.00 to C$196.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group set a C$194.00 target price on Royal Bank of Canada and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. National Bank Financial downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Royal Bank of Canada from C$180.00 to C$182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

RY stock traded up C$2.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching C$182.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,797,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,474,375. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$176.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$170.12. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of C$145.58 and a 1 year high of C$183.11. The firm has a market capitalization of C$258.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada's previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. Royal Bank of Canada's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.49%.

Insider Activity at Royal Bank of Canada

In related news, Director David Ian Mckay sold 20,304 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$175.47, for a total transaction of C$3,562,730.70. Also, Senior Officer Graeme Ashley Hepworth sold 308 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$175.47, for a total value of C$54,044.58. Insiders have sold a total of 62,731 shares of company stock valued at $10,663,017 over the last quarter.

Royal Bank of Canada Company Profile

Royal Bank of Canada is one of the two largest banks in Canada. It is a diversified financial services company, offering personal and commercial banking, wealth-management services, insurance, corporate banking, and capital markets services. The bank is concentrated in Canada, with additional operations in the U.S.