Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Price Target Raised to C$306.00

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) had its price target lifted by Raymond James Financial from C$270.50 to C$306.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. National Bank Financial increased their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from C$257.00 to C$271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$245.00 to C$260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$226.00 to C$232.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$275.00 to C$320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$275.00 to C$280.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$278.23.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

RY opened at C$300.70 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$291.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$256.69. The stock has a market capitalization of C$417.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.05. Royal Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of C$187.79 and a 12 month high of C$306.38.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The financial services provider reported C$3.90 EPS for the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 18.40% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm had revenue of C$17.45 billion during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 12.3454675 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 24th will be issued a $1.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 27th. This represents a $7.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Neil Mclaughlin sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$287.72, for a total value of C$1,150,880.00. Also, Director David Ian Mckay sold 133,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$287.21, for a total transaction of C$38,236,267.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,873 shares in the company, valued at C$1,686,784.33. This represents a 95.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold a total of 353,206 shares of company stock valued at $100,237,874 in the last 90 days.

About Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 101,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our more than 19 million clients in Canada, the U.S.