SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases New Position in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RY. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 131.0% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada during the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 192.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on RY shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 20th. UBS Group began coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.33.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of RY stock opened at $115.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $163.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $109.12 and a 200-day moving average of $103.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Royal Bank of Canada has a one year low of $77.90 and a one year high of $116.56.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $10.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.95 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.12% and a return on equity of 14.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 25th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 25th. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 51.49%.

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.