Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $79.05 on Friday. Stifel Financial has a 12 month low of $54.81 and a 12 month high of $79.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $75.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.43.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 38.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,687,484.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,687,484.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $2,713,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 54,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,125,150.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 187.4% during the third 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,369,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 77.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,728,000 after buying an additional 518,163 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $28,559,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 86.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 492,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,256,000 after buying an additional 228,775 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.