Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Hits New 1-Year High at $83.00

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.00 and last traded at $82.89, with a volume of 36218 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.25.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 38.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stifel Financial news, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $1,038,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,489,815.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $1,038,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,489,815.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,421 shares of company stock worth $5,639,783 in the last quarter. 3.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.3% during the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,802,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,172,000 after purchasing an additional 8,198 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,332,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,143,000 after acquiring an additional 151,046 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,369,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,208,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,539,000 after acquiring an additional 6,645 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.