Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Rating Increased to Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. TD Cowen currently has $103.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $88.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on SCHW. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $81.88 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Charles Schwab has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50. The company has a market cap of $145.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. 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 yield of 1.32%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 490,120 shares of company stock valued at $40,127,472 over the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.