Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $105.71.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SF opened at $85.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.15. Stifel Financial has a 12-month low of $73.27 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The company has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 7,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,040,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

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.