Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Sets New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $83.84 and last traded at $83.52, with a volume of 4012060 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $82.06.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.11.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.9 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.89 and its 200-day moving average is $71.00. The company has a market capitalization of $148.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total transaction of $755,996.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,057,774.01. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,014 shares of company stock worth $4,052,281. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCHW. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $225,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,319,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $499,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 32,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,402,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 24,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 6,739 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.