Scotiabank Upgrades Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) to Strong-Buy

Royal Bank of Canada (TSE:RY) (NYSE:RY) was upgraded by stock analysts at Scotiabank to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Royal Bank of Canada from C$180.00 to C$178.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Royal Bank of Canada from C$195.00 to C$180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 21st. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$190.00 to C$179.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$198.00 to C$196.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from C$167.00 to C$168.00 in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$179.83.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 0.9%

TSE:RY opened at C$175.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$248.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$163.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$169.22. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of C$140.53 and a 1-year high of C$180.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Bank of Canada news, Senior Officer Graeme Ashley Hepworth sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$161.89, for a total transaction of C$49,862.12. Also, Director David Ian Mckay sold 20,304 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$169.67, for a total transaction of C$3,444,896.43. Insiders sold 61,929 shares of company stock valued at $10,152,340 over the last quarter.

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.