Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $117.71.

A number of equities analysts have commented on SF shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of SF stock opened at $93.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 1.08. Stifel Financial has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $105.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.97.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.49%.

About Stifel Financial

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.