Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $91.75.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 target price (down from $89.00) on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SF. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 35,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 26,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after buying an additional 4,043 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 287.2% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 490,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,240,000 after buying an additional 364,013 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 48.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 5,927 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 0.0%

SF stock opened at $78.77 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.92 and a 200-day moving average of $77.02. Stifel Financial has a fifty-two week low of $67.81 and a fifty-two week high of $89.83. The company has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.46%.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

Stifel Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1890, the firm has grown into a full?service brokerage and investment banking organization serving individual investors, corporations and institutions. Through its principal subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company delivers a broad array of financial products and services backed by research?driven insights.

The firm’s main business activities are organized into two core segments: Private Client Group and Institutional Group.