Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Short Interest Update

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,690,000 shares, an increase of 55.0% from the September 30th total of 10,770,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 994,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 16.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Bank of Canada

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 110.3% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter worth $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the second quarter worth $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on RY. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $151.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Down 0.9 %

RY stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $122.46. The company had a trading volume of 3,608,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $173.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $121.75 and a 200 day moving average of $111.23. Royal Bank of Canada has a 12 month low of $77.90 and a 12 month high of $126.96.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.23. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 15.17%. The firm had revenue of $10.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th will be given a dividend of $1.028 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $4.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is 51.99%.

About Royal Bank of Canada

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.