Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $98.42 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $109.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.82. Stifel Financial has a 1 year low of $72.78 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 29.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SF. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth $137,448,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,595 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,923,000 after acquiring an additional 860,465 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 477.9% during the 4th quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 238,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,347,000 after acquiring an additional 197,598 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,207,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,088,000 after acquiring an additional 186,352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.