Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$176.58.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on RY shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$195.00 to C$193.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Securities downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from C$178.00 to C$180.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$167.00 to C$176.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$167.00 to C$197.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada stock opened at C$173.32 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$173.72 and a 200-day moving average of C$162.69. Royal Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of C$127.60 and a 52-week high of C$180.45. The stock has a market capitalization of C$244.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 50.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Antony Guzman sold 1,538 shares of Royal Bank of Canada stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$177.09, for a total transaction of C$272,363.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25 shares in the company, valued at C$4,427.24. This trade represents a 98.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock.

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.