Royal Bank of Canada (RY) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.05 on February 24th

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be given a dividend of 1.0522 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, February 24th. This represents a $4.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03.

Royal Bank of Canada has increased its dividend by an average of 9.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Royal Bank of Canada has a dividend payout ratio of 41.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Royal Bank of Canada to earn $10.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.13 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.7%.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:RY opened at $122.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $173.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.87. Royal Bank of Canada has a one year low of $93.97 and a one year high of $128.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.67.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RY. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. Barclays raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.50.

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.