Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday.

SF has been the topic of several other reports. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen restated a hold rating and set a $89.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $83.75.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:SF opened at $84.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84. Stifel Financial has a one year low of $54.81 and a one year high of $85.72.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 38.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

In other news, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $1,038,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,489,815.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 37,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,611,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 1,818.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

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.