Americana Partners LLC Increases Stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Americana Partners LLC grew its stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $3,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RY. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 86,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,801,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the third quarter worth $222,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.7% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 60,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,564,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 4.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 14,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 2.2% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 7,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RY shares. StockNews.com downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $151.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

NYSE:RY traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $121.92. 111,482 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,078,897. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.79. The company has a market cap of $172.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.86. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of $80.96 and a 1 year high of $126.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $10.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 15.17%. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.028 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $4.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 50.79%.

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.