Fiduciary Group LLC Makes New $218,000 Investment in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Fiduciary Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cigna Investments Inc. New raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 26,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,661,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 7,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 4,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Down 0.2 %

RY stock opened at $97.98 on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of $77.90 and a 52-week high of $103.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.05. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.43% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.10 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $1.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.67.

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.