The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and sixteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.60.

SCHW has been the subject of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. William Blair lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total transaction of $249,574.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,332,727.83. This represents a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total transaction of $316,037.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,956,519.28. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Charles Schwab by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 97.9% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.8%

SCHW stock opened at $96.03 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.92. Charles Schwab has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

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.