Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Lifted 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.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on SF. Wolfe Research cut Stifel Financial from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday. They set an overweight rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $90.40.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $85.79 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $84.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.72. Stifel Financial has a 52-week low of $54.81 and a 52-week high of $90.00. The company has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 38.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 388.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.