Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $31.5625 and last traded at $31.5625, with a volume of 397 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.2475.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SCBFF shares. UBS Group cut Standard Chartered from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Standard Chartered from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Standard Chartered from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Standard Chartered presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Standard Chartered Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $72.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.44.

Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.09. Standard Chartered had a net margin of 13.79% and a return on equity of 10.84%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.59 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Standard Chartered PLC will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Standard Chartered

A hedge fund recently raised its position in Standard Chartered stock. Madison Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Standard Chartered PLC (OTCMKTS:SCBFF) by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 42,447 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,154 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Standard Chartered were worth $2,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Standard Chartered Company Profile

Standard Chartered PLC is an international banking group headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The company provides financial services to individuals, businesses, financial institutions and governments through operations spanning Asia, the Middle East and Africa, as well as selected markets in Europe and the Americas.

Its principal businesses include corporate, commercial and institutional banking; transaction banking; financial markets; wealth management; and retail banking. Standard Chartered offers services such as lending, trade finance, cash management, foreign exchange, investment banking, asset management, mortgages, personal banking and investment products.

The group traces its origins to the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, founded in 1853, and the Standard Bank of British South Africa, founded in 1862.