Short Interest in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Decreases By 38.8%

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY saw a large decrease in short interest in 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 trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Bank of Canada

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,425,519,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,866,021 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,229,834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702,585 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,382,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,027,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991,364 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 165.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,896,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $361,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1,600.9% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,427,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $166,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

RY traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $114.25. The company had a trading volume of 805,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,003,927. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $161.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.88. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $95.84 and a twelve month high of $128.05. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $118.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.43.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $1.0251 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada's payout ratio is presently 45.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Company Profile

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.