Hodges Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 36.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,106 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anson Funds Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $783,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $75,720,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 134,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,551,000 after acquiring an additional 18,451 shares during the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. WBI Investments LLC now owns 5,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1,674.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 16,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,265,000 after buying an additional 15,287 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SCHW. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total value of $17,185,903.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 590,734 shares in the company, valued at $58,388,148.56. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 58,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,776,592.09. This trade represents a 29.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock worth $29,022,580. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE SCHW opened at $93.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.76. The company has a market capitalization of $169.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $61.81 and a 12 month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.03%.

Charles Schwab announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.