Royal Bank of Canada - RY

Let's get down to business. Royal Bank of Canada, stock ticker RY pays shareholders 54 cents per share each quarter, which is currently a whopping 4.51% dividend yield. RY did not stop paying their dividend during the Great Recession and actually increased their dividend payment from 50 cents to 54 cents on June 22nd, 2011. They are Canada's largest banks as measured by assets and market capitalization, and are among the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. They are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and transaction processing services on a global basis.

RY currently employs approximately 74,000 full and part time employees who serve close to 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 56 other countries. RY is currently among one of the twenty largest banks globally as of November 30th, 2011 (see picture below). Their Canadian goal is to be the undisputed leader in financial services and global goal is to to be the leading provider of capital markets and wealth management solutions.

You might be asking: Why invest in a bank stock considering that Bank of America and Citigroup are in the tank? Well, Canada's economy has fared much better than that of the United States, with a 2.4% gross domestic product growth rate and earnings rising 13% last quarter RY is one of the last remaining banks stocks which is worth any risk. Their dividend is never going away. Quote me. It should have been cut in half back in 2008, but stayed put.

Continued higher earnings will propel this stock higher in the short term and if RY's value decreases the dividend yield will increase and you'll end up getting paid to wait for the stock price to fly high once more. This truly is a win win. RY bank has taken fewer riskier lending positions and the Canadian economy remains in good shape. Additionally, they were recently listed among top 2011 third quarter stocks by Blackrock. Like most of the Canadian owned institutions the minimum reserve requirements as well as the lower exposure levels to toxic debt has kept it largely out of the mess currently seen in the sector. With the recent investment expansions into the United States and international investment markets profits should continue on its current level.

Please do your due diligence on this one, but I highly suggest putting this baby into the bank sector of your Roth IRA stock portfolio. The Royal Bank of Canada has great leadership, are consistently one of the best companies to work for, they are socially responsible and they know how to continue to make money even through difficult economic times. Enjoy the videos below, have a great remainder of your weekend!