Short Interest in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Declines By 19.7%

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) saw a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,350,000 shares, a decline of 19.7% from the November 30th total of 7,910,000 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Bank of Canada

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RY. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leisure Capital Management increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.1% during the third quarter. Leisure Capital Management now owns 9,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $120.88. The stock had a trading volume of 355,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,069,874. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $93.97 and a fifty-two week high of $128.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $123.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.89. 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 stock has a market cap of $170.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.0522 per share. This represents a $4.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. This is a boost from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is 52.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Securities cut Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.