Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from C$229.00 to C$245.00. The stock traded as high as C$230.99 and last traded at C$230.74, with a volume of 552200 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$227.86.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on RY. Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$218.00 to C$230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$214.00 to C$227.00 in a report on Thursday, August 28th. TD Securities upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from C$215.00 to C$246.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Royal Bank of Canada from C$201.00 to C$219.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$220.00 to C$229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$228.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Ian Mckay sold 91,288 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$228.75, for a total transaction of C$20,882,130.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,343,448.75. This represents a 93.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Up 1.2%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$211.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$195.97. The stock has a market capitalization of C$323.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.29.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The financial services provider reported C$3.85 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$17.21 billion for the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 28.23% and a return on equity of 13.27%. Analysts predict that Royal Bank of Canada will post 12.3454675 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 27th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.93%.

Royal Bank of Canada Company Profile

Royal Bank of Canada is one of the two largest banks in Canada. It is a diversified financial services company, offering personal and commercial banking, wealth-management services, insurance, corporate banking, and capital markets services. The bank is concentrated in Canada, with additional operations in the U.S.