Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

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

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SF opened at $80.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.49. Stifel Financial has a 52 week low of $54.81 and a 52 week high of $80.86.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 38.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 54,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,125,150.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 54,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the company’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 directly owns 90,055 shares in the company, valued at $6,687,484.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 187.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,220,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,445,000 after buying an additional 1,448,068 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,369,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,728,000 after purchasing an additional 518,163 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,559,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 86.8% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 492,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,256,000 after buying an additional 228,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

About Stifel Financial

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.