Charles Schwab’s (SCHW) “Market Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JMP Securities currently has a $94.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.56.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $75.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $77.02 and its 200 day moving average is $76.74. Charles Schwab has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost 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 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,516,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,384 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,901,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,279,742,000 after purchasing an additional 760,043 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,513,894,000 after buying an additional 265,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,289,544,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.