Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.17.

Several research firms have commented on SF. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $113.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF opened at $116.22 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.57. Stifel Financial has a 12-month low of $60.17 and a 12-month high of $118.12. The firm has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 1,818.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Stifel Financial in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 27.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 388.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.