Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 16.5%, owning 556,333 shares worth approximately $43.5 million at the end of Q1.
• Charles Schwab's board authorized a $20 billion stock buyback program, signaling a belief that the stock is undervalued.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings report showed an increase in revenue by 24.8% year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.14 beating estimates by $0.04.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 556,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 78,665 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $43,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Charles Schwab by 75.0% during the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth about $31,000. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 90.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded down $3.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,455,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,176,303. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $92.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $99.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Charles Schwab declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 47,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $4,201,850.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total transaction of $889,280.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SCHW. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.35.

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.