Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Compass Point

Compass Point upgraded shares of Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Charles Schwab from $122.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Charles Schwab from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.17.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:SCHW opened at $105.76 on Friday. Charles Schwab has a 1 year low of $83.96 and a 1 year high of $107.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.48. The stock has a market cap of $183.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 24.73% and a net margin of 38.79%.Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Charles Schwab will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 23.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.21, for a total value of $208,420.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,738 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,216.98. This trade represents a 14.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 192,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.90, for a total transaction of $19,999,503.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 529,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,999,049.40. This represents a 26.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 363,848 shares of company stock worth $37,874,706. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,506,000. Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 18,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,696,000 after buying an additional 1,596 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 3,608 shares in the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 31,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,924,000 after acquiring an additional 3,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at about $1,624,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a diversified financial services firm that provides brokerage, banking, wealth management and advisory services to individual investors, independent investment advisors and institutional clients. Its primary offerings include retail brokerage accounts, online trading platforms, Schwab-branded mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), retirement plan services, custodial services for independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and banking products through Charles Schwab Bank.