Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Acquires Shares of 2,023 Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas bought a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 2,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 84,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,483,000 after purchasing an additional 4,980 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 6.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 211,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,369,000 after buying an additional 12,693 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,622,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,833,000 after buying an additional 124,348 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the third quarter worth approximately $706,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 150.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 74,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,249,000 after acquiring an additional 44,494 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. Barclays raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 0.4 %

RY opened at $122.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $173.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $122.47 and its 200-day moving average is $119.77. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of $93.97 and a 1-year high of $128.05.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a $1.0522 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $4.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.85%.

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.