Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.02 Per Share

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of 1.0207 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02.

Royal Bank of Canada has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Royal Bank of Canada has a dividend payout ratio of 45.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Royal Bank of Canada to earn $9.18 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.02 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.8%.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

NYSE:RY opened at $99.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Royal Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of $77.90 and a 52-week high of $103.88. The firm has a market cap of $140.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $99.00 and its 200 day moving average is $94.48.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.10 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.43%. Research analysts predict that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.