Kennedy Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,339 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,786 shares during the period. Piper Sandler Companies makes up about 0.7% of Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Piper Sandler Companies worth $31,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,128,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $722,954,000 after purchasing an additional 17,964 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 2.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 714,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,940,000 after purchasing an additional 20,232 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 294,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,087,000 after purchasing an additional 17,694 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 23.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 248,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,066,000 after purchasing an additional 47,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,239,000. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Performance

PIPR opened at $79.14 on Friday. Piper Sandler Companies has a one year low of $62.49 and a one year high of $95.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.56.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.15. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 21.09% and a net margin of 13.94%.The firm had revenue of $469.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Piper Sandler Companies will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from Piper Sandler Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler Companies’s payout ratio is currently 20.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PIPR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Northland Securities upgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $87.50 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.06.

Piper Sandler Companies Company Profile

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR) is an investment bank and institutional securities firm that provides a range of capital markets and advisory services to corporations, institutions, municipalities and high-net-worth individuals. The firm’s core activities include investment banking and M&A advisory, underwriting and distribution of equity and debt securities, public finance, and sector-focused advisory across industries such as healthcare, energy, financial services and technology.

In addition to traditional investment banking, Piper Sandler offers equity and fixed income research, institutional sales and trading, and market-making services.