Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

by · The Cerbat Gem

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY – Get Free Report) (TSE:RY) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,460,000 shares, a decrease of 38.8% from the February 13th total of 10,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.8 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE:RY traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,446,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,003,470. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of $95.84 and a 1 year high of $128.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.88.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.0251 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.96%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Bank of Canada

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,183,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,136,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104,975 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,425,519,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,866,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,834,000 after acquiring an additional 7,702,585 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,622,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,833,000 after acquiring an additional 124,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,112,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,338,156,000 after acquiring an additional 921,276 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on RY. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Royal Bank of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays raised Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.50.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses.

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