Caprock Group LLC Acquires 971 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,232,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,141,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,901,033 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 124,348 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 2.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,127,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,289,274,000 after acquiring an additional 256,023 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,504,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,118,150,000 after acquiring an additional 190,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 4,759,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,791,000 after purchasing an additional 171,125 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on RY shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RY opened at $125.09 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $123.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.40. The company has a market cap of $176.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.86. Royal Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of $85.02 and a 12 month high of $126.96.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $10.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.40 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.28%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be given a dividend of $1.028 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $4.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is 50.79%.

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.