Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Stock Moved Down to Strong Sell by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on SF. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Stifel Financial from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Capital One Financial set a $75.00 target price on Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. UBS Group set a $83.00 price target on Stifel Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.71.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF stock opened at $66.69 on Thursday. Stifel Financial has a 12 month low of $65.40 and a 12 month high of $89.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.82. The stock has a market cap of $10.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.01.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.02. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 16.50% and a return on equity of 19.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the second quarter valued at $1,031,197,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the second quarter worth about $123,551,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the second quarter worth about $93,235,000. Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the second quarter worth about $70,086,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,403,000 after acquiring an additional 890,810 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

About Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Corp. is a financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Through its principal operating subsidiaries, including Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company provides wealth management, investment banking, securities brokerage and related financial services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities and institutional clients.

Its wealth management business offers investment advice, brokerage services, financial planning, banking and lending solutions, and access to a range of investment products.