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

The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) saw 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. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $78.61. 8,634,260 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,440,091. The stock has a market cap of $142.57 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Charles Schwab has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $78.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.63.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Charles Schwab will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

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Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.