Royal Bank’s outlook remains bright

Article Excerpt

Royal Bank’s shares are down roughly 17% from their recent peak of $140 in February 2023. That’s mainly due to fears that higher interest rates will hurt new loan demand and lead to more writedowns of its current loans. However, banking regulators have toughened lending standards and mortgage stress-test levels in the past few years. That will help minimize loan losses. Royal’s recent acquisitions have also boosted its long-term prospects. ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $116 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $162.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s largest bank by market cap. In September 2022, Royal purchased the U.K.-based wealth management firm Brewin Dolphin Holdings Plc for $2.6 billion. The acquisition made Royal the third-largest wealth management firm in the U.K. and Ireland. Royal then struck a deal in November 2022 to buy the Canadian operations of U.K.-based HSBC Holdings plc (New York…