The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Short Interest Up 70.5% in February

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,740,000 shares, an increase of 70.5% from the January 31st total of 13,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 487,820 shares of company stock worth $39,938,849 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW traded down $3.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $74.63. The company had a trading volume of 4,135,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,869,250. The company has a market capitalization of $135.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. Charles Schwab has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

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.