Schwab (SCHW) Stock Up 2.4% As January Metrics Improve Y/Y

Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) rose 2.4% following the release the monthly activity report for January 2018, which shows an improvement from the year-ago period. Total client assets were $3.5 trillion at the end of the month, jumping 23% year over year.

Further, client assets receiving ongoing advisory services were $1.8 trillion, increasing 23% year over year. Also, Schwab’s average interest earning assets were $234.6 billion at January end, reflecting 9% rise from the prior-year month.

Notably, the company opened 165,000 new brokerage accounts in January, a surge of 49% from the prior-year month. Net new assets, through both existing and new clients totaled $11.5 billion, increasing 4% from January 2017 level.

In fact, Schwab’s active brokerage accounts totaled 10.9 million at the end of the month, up 6% from the January 2017 level. Client’s banking accounts at the end of the reported month were 1.21 million, rising 9% from the year-ago period. Also, the number of retirement plan participants inched up 2% year over year to 1.58 million.

Consequently, shares of the company have rallied 28.6% over the last six months, outperforming 19.2% gain for the industry.

Schwab carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Investment Brokers

E*TRADE Financial (NASDAQ:ETFC) reported a rise in Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) for January 2018. According to its monthly market activity, the company’s DARTs came in at 315,572, up 29% from the prior month and 57% year over year. Notably, derivatives comprised 30% of DARTs in January.

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:IBKR) Electronic Brokerage segment reported a year-over-year increase in DARTs for January 2018. Total client DARTs came in at 903,000, surging 40% from January 2017 and 29% from December 2017. Total customer accounts jumped 27% year over year and 3% from the prior month to 496,700 in the reported month.

Other brokerage firm, TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:AMTD) is likely to announce its monthly metrics information within a few days.

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