HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on HSBC. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of HSBC in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of HSBC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HSBC has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

HSBC Stock Performance

NYSE:HSBC opened at $60.27 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $215.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.54. HSBC has a fifty-two week low of $36.93 and a fifty-two week high of $61.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $52.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.00.

HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $11.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.79 billion. HSBC had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 12.20%. Analysts expect that HSBC will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

HSBC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. HSBC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HSBC

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSBC. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in HSBC by 52.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,781,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,563,000 after buying an additional 951,050 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in HSBC by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,363,000 after buying an additional 749,759 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in HSBC during the 4th quarter worth $17,815,000. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in HSBC during the 4th quarter worth $11,914,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in HSBC by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 347,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,191,000 after buying an additional 200,054 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

HSBC Company Profile

HSBC Holdings plc provides banking and financial services worldwide. The company operates through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The Wealth and Personal Banking segment offers retail banking and wealth products, including current and savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans, credit and debit cards, and local and international payment services; and wealth management services comprising insurance and investment products, global asset management services, investment management, and private wealth solutions.