The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have given The Charles Schwab Corporation a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy", with a target price averaging $100.52.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.14, exceeding estimates of $1.10, along with a 24.8% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Charles Schwab has initiated a share buyback plan to repurchase up to $20 billion in shares, which indicates management’s belief that the stock is undervalued.

Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-four analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $100.5238.

Several research analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. Zacks Research cut Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Charles Schwab from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 16th.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $93.98 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $95.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.82. Charles Schwab has a 1 year low of $64.16 and a 1 year high of $99.59. The firm has a market cap of $170.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55.

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

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.33, for a total transaction of $299,122.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,245,830.74. The trade was a 8.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total value of $594,800.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,265.63. This trade represents a 34.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 267,128 shares of company stock valued at $26,232,077. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% during the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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