Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $91.1481.

Several research firms recently commented on SF. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Friday, May 29th.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 146.7% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 63,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,900,000 after buying an additional 37,516 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 72,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,037,000 after buying an additional 14,779 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 804,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,753,000 after buying an additional 199,983 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 55,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,006,000 after buying an additional 15,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 3,822.2% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 200,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,166,000 after buying an additional 195,849 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 0.1%

SF opened at $73.65 on Monday. Stifel Financial has a 12 month low of $64.36 and a 12 month high of $89.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.49.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 15.34%.The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.46%.

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.