UPDATE: Nomura Equity Research Reiterates Neutral Rating, Raises PT on Charles Schwab Corp.

In a report published Wednesday, Nomura Equity Research reiterated its Neutral rating on Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW), and raised its price target from $13.00 to $15.00.

Nomura Equity Research noted, “Despite continued rate pressure and sluggish trading, both SCHW and AMTD grew revenues sequentially in C4Q12 (total revs +2% for SCHW, +1% for AMTD). As earnings growth will continue to be pressured in the near term and the stocks are not cheap on a PE basis (SCHW at 18x 2014 consensus EPS estimate and AMTD at 16x), we remain Neutral on both AMTD and SCHW. AMTD posted a record $15.6bn of net new assets in the quarter, a 13% annualized growth rate, while Schwab brought in $44bn of "core" net new money, a very healthy 9% annualized growth rate. AMTD posted a 0.6% q/q decrease in spread-based revenue (net interest revenue and insured deposit account fees) and Schwab saw its net interest income decline 1.4%. Expense control (op expense -1% q/q) enabled AMTD to post positive operating leverage and a solid 36% pretax margin, while Schwab posted negative operating leverage q/q and a more modest 28% pretax margin.”

Charles Schwab Corp. closed on Tuesday at $15.45.

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