Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $127.40.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SF. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $131.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SF opened at $128.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.40. Stifel Financial has a 1 year low of $73.27 and a 1 year high of $133.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 12.44%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SF. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the first quarter valued at about $833,000. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 591.5% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 68,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,437,000 after acquiring an additional 58,412 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its position in Stifel Financial by 85.1% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Stifel Financial by 46.7% in the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 20.3% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

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.