Legal & General Group Plc Buys 190,341 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,504,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 190,341 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.74% of Royal Bank of Canada worth $1,118,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 17.9% during the 4th 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. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 90.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 224,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,811,000 after buying an additional 106,531 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 2,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 2,075,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,887,000 after acquiring an additional 74,854 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 20th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of RY opened at $124.53 on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $124.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.76. The firm has a market cap of $176.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $10.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 15.17%. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $1.028 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $4.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.49%.

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.