Wall Street Zen Upgrades Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SF. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $94.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.88.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of SF opened at $107.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 1.09. Stifel Financial has a twelve month low of $73.27 and a twelve month high of $120.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.15). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In related news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $966,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,592.77. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SF. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 67.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 123.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.