This top bank remains a solid pick

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Shares of Royal Bank have declined lately, mainly due to fears that rising interest rates will slow demand for new loans and lead to higher writeoffs. However, the implementation of mortgage stress tests in the past few years should keep any losses low. The bank also continues to expand its profitable wealth management operations. ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $126 is a buy. The bank (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $176.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.9; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s largest chartered bank by market cap. It’s also one of the world’s top 10 banks. Canada supplies 60% of its revenue, followed by the U.S. (24%) and other countries (16%). Due to the small size of the Canadian banking market, Royal prefers to expand internationally. For example, in 2015 it acquired Los Angeles-based City National Bank for $5.5 billion U.S. in cash and shares. City National lends to wealthy individuals as…