The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Short Interest Down 25.9% in February

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 16,840,000 shares, a drop of 25.9% from the February 13th total of 22,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,123.76. This trade represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Charles Schwab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,673,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,536,000 after acquiring an additional 38,201 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 4,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded up $3.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.28. 14,198,976 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,249,280. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. Charles Schwab has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The firm has a market cap of $140.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.32.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Company Profile

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.