Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, June 5, 2020

Article Excerpt

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, $96.80, Toronto symbol RY, is a buy. With the May 2020 payment, Royal raised your quarterly dividend by 2.9%. Investors now receive $1.08 a share instead of $1.05. The new annual rate of $4.32 yields a high 4.5%. Under new rules by Canadian banking regulators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Bank and other lenders have suspended their share buyback programs. Regulators have also blocked them from raising their dividends. Canada’s largest bank by market cap has reported lower-than-expected quarterly results as the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to set aside more funds for potential future loan losses. In its fiscal 2020 second quarter, ended April 30, 2020, Royal’s loan-loss provision soared to $2.83 billion from $426 million a year earlier. As a result, the bank’s earnings fell 54.1%, to $1.48 billion from $3.23 billion. Per-share earnings dropped 54.5%, to $1.00 from $2.20. If you factor out unusual items, the bank earned $1.03 a share in the latest quarter. That missed the…