Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) was upgraded by stock analysts at Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on RY. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$168.00 to C$165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Cormark increased their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$166.00 to C$171.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$157.00 to C$154.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Desjardins increased their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$156.00 to C$163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$169.00 to C$181.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$168.00.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

RY stock opened at C$174.76 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$169.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$156.49. Royal Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of C$115.57 and a 12 month high of C$175.04. The company has a market capitalization of C$246.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported C$3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$2.95 by C$0.31. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 28.67% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The firm had revenue of C$14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 12.3454675 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Antony Guzman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$164.60, for a total value of C$1,646,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$4,115. This trade represents a 99.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director David Ian Mckay sold 74,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$164.59, for a total transaction of C$12,320,115.24. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 144,770 shares of company stock valued at $23,959,265.

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.