Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Northern Trust has a consensus “Hold” rating among 15 covering brokerages, with nine holds, four buys and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $180.68, below the stock’s reported opening price of $185.56.
• The company significantly exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $4.23 in EPS versus the $2.71 consensus, while revenue reached $2.71 billion and increased 35.1% year over year.
• Northern Trust raised its quarterly dividend to $0.88 per share from $0.80, representing a $3.52 annualized payout and a 1.9% yield.

Shares of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $180.6786.

A number of brokerages recently commented on NTRS. Bank of America increased their price target on Northern Trust from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Northern Trust from $176.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Northern Trust in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Northern Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Northern Trust from $189.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd.

Northern Trust Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:NTRS opened at $185.56 on Tuesday. Northern Trust has a fifty-two week low of $121.12 and a fifty-two week high of $195.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $183.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.87. The company has a market cap of $33.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25.

Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The asset manager reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $1.52. The business had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Northern Trust had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northern Trust will post 11.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a boost from Northern Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northern Trust's payout ratio is 27.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Trust news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 255 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $179.57 per share, for a total transaction of $45,790.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,508,388. This trade represents a 3.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas A. South sold 1,800 shares of Northern Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.90, for a total value of $332,820.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,917 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,180,353.30. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northern Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in Northern Trust by 94.1% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 389,857 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,783,000 after buying an additional 188,992 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northern Trust by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 35,542 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,179,000 after acquiring an additional 10,810 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Northern Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,590,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Northern Trust by 15,388.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 51,137,991 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $8,889,828,000 after acquiring an additional 50,807,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Northern Trust by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,129 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.19% of the company's stock.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation NASDAQ: NTRS is a global financial services firm headquartered in Chicago that provides asset servicing, asset management and wealth management solutions to institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals. The company's core businesses include custody and fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, trust and fiduciary services, private banking, and retirement and defined contribution plan services.

Northern Trust's product and service offerings span custody and fund accounting, portfolio and performance analytics, securities lending, cash management and foreign exchange, as well as discretionary and non-discretionary investment management.

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