City National continues to pay off

Article Excerpt

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $101 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $141.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) is Canada’s largest bank with assets of $1.27 trillion. In November 2016, Royal acquired Los Angeles-based City National Bank. That firm lends to wealthy individuals and businesses in the entertainment, technology and health-care industries. The bank paid $5.5 billion U.S. in cash and shares for City National. In the quarter ended April 30, 2018, City National earned $111 million U.S. That’s equal to 5% of Royal’s total earnings of $3.1 billion (Canadian), or $2.06 a share. City National’s latest earnings also represent a 94.7% jump from $57 million a year earlier. The higher earnings are mainly due to rising U.S. interest rates. As well, City National’s loan portfolio rose 15%. The L.A. lender aims to spur more growth with its recent purchase of Exactuals. That privately held firm makes cloud-based software to…