Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Holdings Lifted by Summit Financial LLC

Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 163.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,283 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $1,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,183,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,136,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,975 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the fourth quarter worth $2,425,519,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,112,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,156,000 after purchasing an additional 921,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,390,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,616,000 after purchasing an additional 541,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,796,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $698,579,000 after purchasing an additional 51,277 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, CIBC restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RY opened at $113.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.88. The company has a market capitalization of $160.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $95.84 and a twelve month high of $128.05.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0251 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.96%.

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.