Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Raises Dividend to $1.05 Per Share

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 boost from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03.

Royal Bank of Canada has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Royal Bank of Canada has a payout ratio of 41.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Price Performance

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RY. Barclays upgraded 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 dropped their price target on 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. TD Securities downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Company 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.