Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 919.71 ($11.62).

Several analysts recently commented on STAN shares. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Standard Chartered to a “market perform” rating and set a GBX 790 ($9.98) target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Standard Chartered from GBX 1,000 ($12.64) to GBX 1,050 ($13.27) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a GBX 850 ($10.74) target price on shares of Standard Chartered in a research note on Monday, February 26th.

Standard Chartered Price Performance

STAN stock opened at GBX 679.20 ($8.58) on Thursday. Standard Chartered has a 12 month low of GBX 571 ($7.22) and a 12 month high of GBX 766.60 ($9.69). The firm has a market cap of £17.80 billion, a PE ratio of 808.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 626.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 659.71.

Standard Chartered Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.74%. This is a positive change from Standard Chartered’s previous dividend of $0.06. Standard Chartered’s payout ratio is currently 2,500.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Standard Chartered

In other Standard Chartered news, insider Bill Winters sold 40,432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 655 ($8.28), for a total value of £264,829.60 ($334,676.61). Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.