A stock quote is a snapshot of
a company’s price and other information that can help
you understand its performance and make
investment decisions.
In this short video, we’ll take a look at how to read a
typical stock quote.
To get started, let's look up a quote on the home
screen when we log in.
Here’s what comes up when we search for Royal Bank of Canada, or quote symbol RY.
Now let’s take a closer look.
Quote information can change frequently, so always make
sure you’re looking at the most recent information.
This is how a detailed quote appears when you look it up
on RBC Direct Investing.
In general, all quotes include: the stock’s ticker
symbol … the stock’s listing exchange and market where it
is bought and sold … the stock’s price … and the net
change in price Now let’s look at the stock’s price information.
Open means the price of the stock’s first trade
after the markets open.
Bid is the maximum that buyers are willing to pay
for one lot of shares.
Bid size is the number of lots that buyers are willing
to buy at the highest bid.
Ask means the lowest price the sellers will accept and
Size is the number of lots offered at that price.
Previous close is the price of the stock at the end of
the last trading day.
Share volume shows if the stock is currently trading
more or less than its average daily volume of
shares traded at this time of day.
These high/low numbers help us compare the highest and
lowest prices that the stock reached on the day the quote
is viewed and over the previous year.
A stock’s Earnings Per Share, or EPS, can be
determined by dividing the company’s net income by the
number of shares outstanding.
The Price-to-Earnings or P/E ratio can be determined by
dividing the stock’s current price by the EPS.
Next earnings is the date when the company is expected
to announce their earnings.
Some quotes include a beta, which sheds light on how
volatile the stock price is relative to the market.
Price volatility doesn’t necessarily mean a stock is
the right investment, but the beta can help show how
the stock’s price fluctuates with market activity.
A stock may pay shareholders income every quarter in the form of a dividend.
This is information about company’s market
capitalization, which means the market value of the
company’s outstanding shares.
Many quotes also include information that can help
you further analyze the company you’re researching –
performance charts for different time periods, news
about the company, third-party research,
company financials and more.
All of this information is useful in helping you decide
whether or not to invest in the company.
Real-time quotes are just one of the features you can
access through RBC Direct Investing – to help you find
the information you need to make investment decisions
with confidence.
To get started, log into your account, or visit
rbcdirectinvesting.com today.
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