Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Barclays

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) was upgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on RY. TD Securities downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$178.00 to C$180.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$156.00 to C$163.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$162.00 to C$180.00 in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$157.00 to C$154.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Cormark increased their price target on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$166.00 to C$171.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$168.00.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of RY opened at C$174.76 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$169.86 and its 200-day moving average price is C$156.49. The firm has a market capitalization of C$246.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of C$115.57 and a 1-year high of C$175.04.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported C$3.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$2.95 by C$0.31. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 28.67% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business had revenue of C$14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$14.27 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 12.3454675 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Douglas Antony Guzman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$164.60, for a total transaction of C$1,646,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 25 shares in the company, valued at C$4,115. The trade was a 99.75 % decrease in their position. Also, Director David Ian Mckay sold 74,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$164.59, for a total transaction of C$12,320,115.24. In the last quarter, insiders sold 144,770 shares of company stock worth $23,959,265.

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.