Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) to Outperform

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $84.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $76.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SCHW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $77.63.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock opened at $74.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $132.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.09. Charles Schwab has a fifty-two week low of $48.66 and a fifty-two week high of $79.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Sell-side analysts predict that Charles Schwab will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 41.84%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 89,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total value of $6,661,700.50. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,641,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,504,622.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 89,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total value of $6,661,700.50. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,641,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,286,504,622.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 71,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,172,690.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 658,663 shares of company stock worth $48,997,146. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 20.2% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,778 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. Kampmann Melissa S. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth approximately $1,347,000. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3,002.3% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 345,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,951,000 after buying an additional 334,061 shares during the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth approximately $9,598,000. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.3% in the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 38,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after buying an additional 1,235 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.