Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) Short Interest Up 105.5% in March

Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 82,000 shares, an increase of 105.5% from the February 28th total of 39,900 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 13.0 days.

Standard Chartered Price Performance

SCBFF stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.75. 4,461 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,317. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Standard Chartered has a 12-month low of $7.70 and a 12-month high of $16.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $14.38 and its 200 day moving average is $12.48. The company has a market cap of $36.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.67.

Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter. Standard Chartered had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.80%. On average, research analysts expect that Standard Chartered will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Standard Chartered Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Standard Chartered’s previous dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 27th. Standard Chartered’s payout ratio is 40.88%.

About Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. The company operates in three segments: Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking; Consumer, Private & Business Banking; and Ventures.