Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SF opened at $79.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.23. Stifel Financial has a 52 week low of $54.81 and a 52 week high of $79.40.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $1,887,763.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,687,484.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Stifel Financial news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,687,484.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $2,713,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 54,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SF. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 187.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,220,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448,068 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,369,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 77.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,728,000 after acquiring an additional 518,163 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter valued at about $28,559,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 86.8% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 492,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,256,000 after acquiring an additional 228,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

Stifel Financial Corp., a financial services and bank holding company, provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other.