Short Interest in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Decreases By 41.1%

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,630,000 shares, a decrease of 41.1% from the October 31st total of 18,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.0 days. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% in 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 during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,232,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,141,681,000 after buying an additional 2,901,033 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 165.1% during the third 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 buying an additional 1,804,022 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter worth $153,217,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,390,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,616,000 after acquiring an additional 541,760 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on RY. Barclays upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from $151.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of RY traded up $1.12 on Thursday, hitting $125.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,399,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,094,776. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $123.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.11. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $85.02 and a fifty-two week high of $126.96.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $10.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.40 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 15.17%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.37 EPS for the current year.

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.