Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Standard Chartered a “Moderate Buy” overall: Four of eight analysts recommend buying the stock, while four advise holding it. Recent actions included UBS downgrading it to “hold” and Deutsche Bank upgrading it to “buy.”
• Standard Chartered exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $0.75 per share versus the $0.66 consensus estimate and revenue of $5.70 billion versus $5.59 billion expected.
• Madison Asset Management increased its Standard Chartered holdings by 13.8% in the second quarter. Shares recently traded at $30.53, near their 52-week high of $31.10, with a market capitalization of approximately $69.4 billion.

Shares of Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SCBFF shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group downgraded Standard Chartered from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Standard Chartered from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Institutional Trading of Standard Chartered

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Standard Chartered stock. Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF - Free Report) by 13.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,447 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,154 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Standard Chartered were worth $2,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Standard Chartered Trading Up 2.3%

OTCMKTS:SCBFF opened at $30.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $28.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.78. Standard Chartered has a one year low of $18.03 and a one year high of $31.10.

Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. Standard Chartered had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 13.79%.The company had revenue of $5.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.59 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Standard Chartered will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered PLC is an international banking group headquartered in London. The company provides financial services to individuals, businesses, financial institutions and governments through operations spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the Americas.

Its principal activities include corporate, commercial and institutional banking, retail banking, private banking and wealth management. Standard Chartered offers lending, trade finance, transaction banking, foreign exchange, investment banking, capital markets, cash management and investment products, along with personal banking services such as deposits, mortgages, credit cards and other forms of consumer finance in selected markets.

Standard Chartered traces its history to the formation of Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China in 1853 and the Standard Bank of British South Africa in 1862.

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