Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Purchases 33,792 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 512,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,792 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada accounts for approximately 1.7% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $51,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 149,788,224 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,730,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,534,910,000 after buying an additional 1,603,427 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 32,571,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,010,000 after acquiring an additional 5,810,077 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 28,024,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,834,219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,869,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,718,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus raised their price objective on Royal Bank of Canada from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Barclays initiated coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised Royal Bank of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.25.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

RY stock traded up $2.60 during trading on Monday, hitting $106.23. The stock had a trading volume of 814,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,108,575. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.39. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $77.90 and a twelve month high of $109.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $10.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.95 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.12%. As a group, research analysts predict that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th will be issued a $1.03 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 Thursday, July 25th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.62%.

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.