Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) saw a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 276,000 shares, a decline of 19.9% from the February 13th total of 344,400 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 109,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PIPR shares. StockNews.com cut Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Piper Sandler Companies from $321.00 to $286.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PIPR. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 2,183.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 650.0% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 238.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

NYSE:PIPR traded up $5.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $257.90. The stock had a trading volume of 78,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,113. Piper Sandler Companies has a fifty-two week low of $183.58 and a fifty-two week high of $351.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $274.68 and its 200 day moving average is $294.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 1.46.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.81. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 11.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current year.

Piper Sandler Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.44%.

Piper Sandler Companies Company Profile

Piper Sandler Companies operates as an investment bank and institutional securities firm that serves corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States and internationally. It offers investment banking services and institutional sales, trading, and research services for various equity and fixed income products; advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt private placements, and debt and restructuring advisory; raises capital through equity and debt financings; underwrites municipal issuances; and municipal financial advisory and loan placement services, as well as various over-the-counter derivative products.