Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF – Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on SF. Zacks Research raised Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.90.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $84.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $12.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.19 and a 200-day moving average of $76.48. Stifel Financial has a 1-year low of $67.81 and a 1-year high of $89.83.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.09. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

In other news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total transaction of $372,240.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,736.80. The trade was a 45.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,031,197,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,893,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $362,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,347 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $172,446,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $93,235,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $70,086,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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