Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $107.68 and last traded at $107.17, with a volume of 349199 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Charles Schwab from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.17.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 38.79% and a return on equity of 24.73%. The business had revenue of $7.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 192,488 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 529,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,999,049.40. This trade represents a 26.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 32,947 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.01, for a total value of $3,426,817.47. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 57,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,029,667.72. This represents a 36.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 363,848 shares of company stock worth $37,874,706 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $1,994,189,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 22.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 16,162,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,518,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,009,884 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 23,276,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,325,512,000 after buying an additional 2,066,884 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 716.5% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,101,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $209,948,000 after buying an additional 1,844,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at $129,140,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.