Analysts Set Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) PT at $91.90

Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.9048.

Several research firms have weighed in on SF. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In other news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total value of $372,240.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at $453,736.80. This represents a 45.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 430.4% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 73,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,470,000 after purchasing an additional 60,042 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 38,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,824,000 after purchasing an additional 12,727 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 56.3% during the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 134,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,917,000 after buying an additional 48,346 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 43.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 143,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,578,000 after buying an additional 43,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the first quarter worth $4,230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:SF opened at $84.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Stifel Financial has a 12 month low of $67.81 and a 12 month high of $89.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.46.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 16.11%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 24.33%.

About Stifel Financial

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.