Ethic Inc. Reduces Stock Position in HSBC Holdings plc $HSBC

Ethic Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HSBC) by 11.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,367 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in HSBC were worth $9,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSBC. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in HSBC by 425.4% during the 1st quarter. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 1,265,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,780 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in HSBC by 729.6% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 387,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,280,000 after purchasing an additional 341,187 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in HSBC during the 1st quarter valued at $17,430,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in HSBC by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,047,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,155,000 after purchasing an additional 164,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in HSBC by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,873,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,002,000 after purchasing an additional 91,789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

HSBC Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:HSBC opened at $66.44 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $67.39 and its 200 day moving average is $61.76. HSBC Holdings plc has a 1 year low of $43.97 and a 1 year high of $72.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.33. HSBC had a return on equity of 12.73% and a net margin of 13.48%.The company had revenue of $16.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.64 billion. On average, research analysts predict that HSBC Holdings plc will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HSBC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.495 per share. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. HSBC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HSBC shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of HSBC in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research lowered HSBC from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of HSBC in a research report on Friday, October 10th. BNP Paribas Exane raised HSBC from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of HSBC in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HSBC has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

About HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc provides banking and financial services worldwide. The company operates through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking and Markets segments. The Wealth and Personal Banking segment offers retail banking and wealth products, including current and savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans, credit and debit cards, and local and international payment services; and wealth management services comprising insurance and investment products, global asset management services, investment management, and private wealth solutions.