Boston Partners Acquires New Stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Boston Partners invested approximately $383.51 million in The Charles Schwab Corporation, acquiring nearly 4.9 million shares in the first quarter.
• In addition to Boston Partners, several other institutional investors made significant adjustments to their holdings in Schwab, including a 15.4% increase by Vanguard Group and a 354.5% increase by Kovitz Investment Group.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation announced a $20 billion share buyback plan and a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, indicating management’s belief that the stock is undervalued.

Boston Partners bought a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,904,611 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $383,510,000. Boston Partners owned 0.27% of Charles Schwab as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% in the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth about $31,000. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 90.5% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total transaction of $889,280.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 10,129 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $911,711.29. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,524,251.54. The trade was a 20.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $97.80. The stock had a trading volume of 11,310,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,257,840. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.55. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $99.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. The company's revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 29.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. William Blair downgraded Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. TD Securities raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

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.