Norden Group LLC Acquires 14,431 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 148% in Q1, acquiring 14,431 additional shares, bringing their total to 24,183 shares worth approximately $1.89 million.
• Charles Schwab reported a 24.8% increase in year-over-year revenue for the most recent quarter, with earnings per share at $1.14, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• The company announced a stock repurchase program authorizing up to $20 billion in buybacks, indicating management’s belief that its stock is undervalued.

Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 148.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,183 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,431 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 19,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,509,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.1% during the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.8% in the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SCHW. William Blair cut shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.35.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total value of $761,454.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 105,654 shares in the company, valued at $9,303,891.24. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total value of $889,280.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 106,754 shares of company stock worth $9,480,253 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.6%

SCHW stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $98.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,068,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,168,755. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52 week low of $61.15 and a 52 week high of $99.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $178.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.93. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $90.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.33.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 33.68%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.03%.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.