Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Cuts Stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $2,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 9.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.8% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 2,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RY opened at $124.30 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $123.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.89. The company has a market cap of $175.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.86. Royal Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of $85.02 and a 12 month high of $126.96.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $10.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.40 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.28%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.37 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th were issued a $1.028 dividend. This represents a $4.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on RY. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Royal Bank of Canada from $151.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays raised Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.50.

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.