Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) Receives “Buy” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a GBX 1,300 ($16.18) price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on STAN. Shore Capital reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Standard Chartered in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Standard Chartered to a market perform rating and set a GBX 790 ($9.83) price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Standard Chartered from GBX 850 ($10.58) to GBX 900 ($11.20) and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on Standard Chartered from GBX 1,000 ($12.45) to GBX 1,050 ($13.07) and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of GBX 955.43 ($11.89).

Standard Chartered Trading Down 0.7 %

LON:STAN opened at GBX 656.80 ($8.18) on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of £17.21 billion, a PE ratio of 781.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 652.46 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 652.59. Standard Chartered has a 52 week low of GBX 571 ($7.11) and a 52 week high of GBX 766.60 ($9.54).

Standard Chartered Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.74%. This is an increase from Standard Chartered’s previous dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. Standard Chartered’s dividend payout ratio is 2,500.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of GBX 655 ($8.15), for a total value of £264,829.60 ($329,677.08). 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.