Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) Shares Down 9.8% – Time to Sell?

Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) shares were down 9.8% on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 999 ($13.09) and last traded at GBX 1,039.38 ($13.62). Approximately 646,990,750 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2,485% from the average daily volume of 25,029,953 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,152.50 ($15.10).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STAN has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a GBX 970 ($12.71) price objective on shares of Standard Chartered in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Standard Chartered from GBX 1,170 ($15.33) to GBX 1,250 ($16.38) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 1,073.33 ($14.06).

Standard Chartered Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of £28.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 1,152.17 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 995.36.

Standard Chartered Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Standard Chartered’s previous dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 27th. Standard Chartered’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bill Winters sold 62,739 shares of Standard Chartered stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 1,191 ($15.61), for a total value of £747,221.49 ($979,063.80). In the last three months, insiders sold 144,361 shares of company stock worth $122,238,845. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.