Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, March 2, 2018

Article Excerpt

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA, $99.91, Toronto symbol RY, is Canada’s largest bank, with assets of $1.28 trillion. With the May 2018 payment, Royal will raise its quarterly dividend by 3.3%, to $0.94 a share from $0.91. The new annual rate of $3.76 yields 3.8%. The bank also reported that its overall earnings in the quarter ended January 31, 2018, fell 0.5%, to $3.01 billion from $3.03 billion a year earlier. But due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 2.0%, to $2.01 from $1.97. If you exclude a charge related to the new U.S. tax rules, Royal earned $2.13 a share in the latest quarter. That beat the consensus estimate of $1.99. Earnings from Royal’s retail banking (47% of the total) fell 4.5% due to the sale of a business. On a comparable basis, earnings gained 10% due to higher demand for loans and interest rates. Its capital markets business (23%) saw earnings rise 13.0% due to lower loan-loss provisions and tax rates…