Duality Advisers LP Grows Holdings in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 33.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,119 shares during the quarter. Duality Advisers LP’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $4,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,127,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,645,444,000 after buying an additional 717,971 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,869,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,718,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,723 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 26,666,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,330,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062,038 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,583,609,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 12,413,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,176,000 after purchasing an additional 106,757 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 1.0 %

RY traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $97.86. 882,487 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,212,056. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $98.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.38. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $103.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $138.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $9.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.10 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $1.0207 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.