Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY – Get Rating) (TSE:RY) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,800,000 shares, a decline of 48.3% from the April 30th total of 24,740,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 875,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 14.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Bank of Canada

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RY. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Syverson Strege & Co acquired a new position in Royal Bank of Canada during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN acquired a new position in Royal Bank of Canada during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Royal Bank of Canada during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Bank of Canada during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 41.19% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of RY traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.17. The stock had a trading volume of 293,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 873,767. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $83.63 and a fifty-two week high of $106.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.92. The firm has a market cap of $125.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY – Get Rating) (TSE:RY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $11.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.67 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 18.77% and a return on equity of 16.17%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be given a $0.996 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.99. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 25th. This represents a $3.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on RY shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. CIBC downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 16th. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from C$145.00 to C$147.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

About Royal Bank of Canada

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Royal Bank of Canada engages in the provision of banking and financial solutions. It operates through the following segments: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, Insurance, Investor and Treasury Services, Capital Markets, and Corporate Support. The Personal and Commercial Banking segment deals with a broad suite of financial products and services in Canada.