The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.11.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,014 shares of company stock worth $4,052,281 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after buying an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,681,000 after buying an additional 1,644,931 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after buying an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $86,845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $82.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $77.97 and its 200 day moving average is $71.22. Charles Schwab has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $83.84.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.