Royal Bank (RY.TO)

The yield is 3.8% and the payout ratio is about 45%. The bank is solid, the dividend will be raised consistently. The bank’s volatility, running between $90 and $106 is normal. It has great stability, Financial stocks have been hit, globally, over the last month. He sees this as noise. He thinks the financials are oversold. (Analysts’ price target is $110.52)

Canada's largest bank and largest company and one of the largest banks it the world. It has a top ten global capital markets business. They are going to add 2 million Canadian customers with their advances in mobile and digital technology. (Analysts’ target: $110.52).

The Canadian banks have had some weakness, but RY has some good support levels and should do well going forward.

Their ROE is just not high enough to hit his radar. You could expect 8-12% annual returns on your investment. Biggest company in Canada. He expects it may split soon as it has broken above $100.

Get in now for a dividend investor? Can’t go too far wrong with Royal Bank. They favour US banks right now, not Canadian. US economy and housing doing better, whereas Canada has housing mortgage risks. Long-term steady dividend payer, as long as you take a long-term view, a good core name to own. May want to mix in some blue-chip US banks like JP Morgan or Citigroup.

Royal’s down a bit. Good 2nd quarter results of 11% growth year over year. Performance gap between them and TD, which is not deserved. Good loan growth coming out of the US. Yield is about 3.6%, payout ratio is low. Dividend growth will track earnings growth. (Analysts’ price target is $110.52)

The valuation is good compared to BMO or TD. Still has decent excess capital. Could hit $110-114. (Analysts' price target: $110.62)

He used this as a proxy for the Canadian financial sector. Definitely in a downward trend with lower lows and lower highs. Maybe a good time to buy, but would be speculative at this point.

He has trimmed his position in this to a small position. It's a go-to name with a secure dividend that will rise. It's trading at its upper range though. Still a good long-term investment despite headwinds that Canadian banks face.

All Canadian banks are good value these days. But there are shorts south of the border. There is some risk in the mortgage portfolio. This one is not his favorite bank mainly because of its limited exposure to the US. Good yield. These are economy stocks. If you believe the economy is going to do OK, they are going to do just fine. Good investment.

(Past Top Pick on May 16, 2017, Up 10%) Likes their 23% presence in the U.S. after expanding by buying City National a few years ago. Enjoyed a good quarter. NAFTA, housing market headwinds--who knows what'll happen? Regardless, it's a well-diversified company that'll help buffer it during an economic slowdown. She owns it partly for the U.S. presence.

Can I hold this for the next several years and forget it? Yes. Banks in general are cheap. Cheaper certainly than they were a year ago with better growth. Growth in their model is 5% here. Good capital ratio. If you are putting new money, he would look at other banks as this one is trading at a premium compared to peers.

It has the lowest yield of the bank stocks. They are not all that differentiable for the long term. He is just not that enthralled at these levels of yield. He is not going to chase it at these prices.

He just picked this up for one of his funds. When banks sell off more than 10%, as the Candian ones have over the past year, he pays attention. There's been talk of a housing slowdown, which of course effects banks, since credit could slow down. He likes RY among the Canadian banks, because RY has U.S. exposure, and is doing a lot in technology. Safe to hold.

He generally favors US banks over Canadian. As a long-term investments, well-run Canadian banks are attractive. There is concern about competition from companies like Amazon. The American banks are benefitting from raises in interest rates that he expects to be more rapid than Canada, and the housing recovery is stronger there because housing prices are already high here. So he prefers a Citigroup or a JP Morgan to Royal. However, he doesn’t think an investor would go too far wrong with Royal because it is fairly safe and it has a high dividend.