Two ways to buy Canadian financial shares

Article Excerpt

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $105 (Toronto symbol RY; Income-Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $147.0 billion; Dividend yield: 3.9%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s largest bank with assets of $1.38 trillion. Canada accounts for 62% of its revenue, followed by the U.S. (23%) and other countries (15%). Starting with the May 2019 payment, the bank raised its quarterly dividend by 4.1%. Investors now receive $1.02 a share, up from $0.98. The new annual rate of $4.08 yields a high 3.9%. In its fiscal 2019 second quarter, ended April 30, 2019, Royal earned $3.23 billion in the quarter. That’s up 5.6% from $3.06 billion a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose 6.8%, to $2.20 from $2.06. If you exclude unusual items, Royal earned $2.23 a share in the latest quarter. Earnings from retail banking (48% of the total) rose 6.2%, mainly due to higher loan and deposit volumes. Rising interest rates also contributed to the increase. The…