Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Short Interest Down 38.8% in February

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) was the recipient of a significant 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. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on RY shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Securities cut Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 274.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the 3rd quarter valued at about $823,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 4.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position 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 worth $1,706,833,000 after acquiring an additional 124,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RY traded up $2.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.52. 1,446,336 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,002,148. The company has a market cap of $157.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.48.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

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

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.