Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell sharply, down 26.9% to 685,791 shares as of April 15, with a days-to-cover ratio of about 9.3 days.
• Shares traded down 3% to $23.63; the stock has a market cap of $53.7B and a P/E of 12.57, and the company slightly missed EPS ($0.36 vs. $0.38) while beating revenue ($4.89B vs. $4.82B).
• Analysts show a mixed but positive view — the stock's average rating is a "Moderate Buy" with three Buys and two Holds, and recent notes include upgrades from BNP Paribas Exane and Morgan Stanley while Zacks cut to Hold.

Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 685,791 shares, a decrease of 26.9% from the March 31st total of 938,056 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 73,792 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.3 days.

Standard Chartered Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of OTCMKTS:SCBFF traded down $0.73 on Wednesday, reaching $23.63. 3,743 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,320. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $22.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.59. Standard Chartered has a 52 week low of $13.65 and a 52 week high of $26.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Standard Chartered had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 10.77%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Standard Chartered will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised Standard Chartered to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Zacks Research cut Standard Chartered from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

About Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered plc is a British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London. The firm traces its modern form to the 1969 merger of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (founded in 1853) and Standard Bank of British South Africa (founded in 1862), creating an international bank with deep historical roots in trade finance and cross-border banking. Standard Chartered maintains a global footprint and a long-standing focus on facilitating trade and capital flows between developed and emerging markets.

Standard Chartered provides a broad range of banking and financial services for corporate, institutional and individual clients.

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