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

Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $91.1481.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,451,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,674,000 after purchasing an additional 419,038 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,893,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $362,368,000 after buying an additional 1,408,347 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 51.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,403,000 after buying an additional 890,810 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,371,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,128,000 after buying an additional 45,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 58.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,875,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,637,000 after buying an additional 693,437 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE:SF opened at $69.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.17. Stifel Financial has a 52 week low of $67.96 and a 52 week high of $89.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.00.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 15.34%.The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.