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

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.45.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $90.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. Charles Schwab has a 1 year low of $65.88 and a 1 year high of $99.59. The firm has a market cap of $161.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.90.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.93 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 35.93%.Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 25.29%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.33, for a total value of $299,122.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 34,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,245,830.74. The trade was a 8.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 3,072 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,168,454. This trade represents a 20.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,626 shares of company stock valued at $1,500,095. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,889,858,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,616,380,000 after purchasing an additional 19,817,022 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 595.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,488,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,212,461,000 after buying an additional 13,262,309 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 229.3% in the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,002,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,096,083,000 after buying an additional 9,749,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,422,795,000 after buying an additional 8,954,248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

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.