BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 855,305 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,189,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 855,305 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada makes up about 2.7% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $446,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 35,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 192.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 89,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,024,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada in the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of RY opened at $123.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.86. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $77.90 and a twelve month high of $124.46.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.23. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The company had revenue of $10.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be paid a $1.028 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $4.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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 report on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $151.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada 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.