Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,073.33 ($13.90).

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Standard Chartered from GBX 1,170 ($15.15) to GBX 1,250 ($16.18) and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a GBX 970 ($12.56) price target on shares of Standard Chartered in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Standard Chartered Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of STAN traded down GBX 13 ($0.17) during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching GBX 1,185 ($15.34). The company's stock had a trading volume of 682,116,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,385,836. Standard Chartered has a 52 week low of GBX 635.20 ($8.22) and a 52 week high of GBX 1,281 ($16.58). The company's fifty day moving average price is GBX 1,142.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 980.44. The stock has a market cap of £35.78 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.85.

Standard Chartered Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 27th. This is a boost from Standard Chartered's previous dividend of $0.09. This represents a dividend yield of 1.79%. Standard Chartered's dividend payout ratio is 20.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Standard Chartered news, insider Bill Winters sold 62,739 shares of Standard Chartered stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 1,191 ($15.42), for a total value of £747,221.49 ($967,402.24). In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,361 shares of company stock valued at $122,238,845. Corporate insiders own 1.43% of the company's stock.

Standard Chartered Company Profile

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.