Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Reaches New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Piper Sandler Companies' shares reached a new 52-week high of $352.34, trading last at $348.35 with a volume of over 30,000 shares.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with one lowering its rating to a "hold" while another boosted it to "outperform," setting a price target of $339.00.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, with $2.95 EPS exceeding estimates and a revenue increase of 13.4% compared to the same period last year.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $352.34 and last traded at $348.35, with a volume of 30055 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $345.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Piper Sandler Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Wolfe Research raised Piper Sandler Companies from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $339.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Piper Sandler Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.50.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $321.40.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.96. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 18.67% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $405.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.40 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from Piper Sandler Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Piper Sandler Companies's payout ratio is presently 23.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel John W. Geelan sold 2,000 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.69, for a total transaction of $645,380.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 12,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,080,415.05. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 3,536 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.84, for a total value of $1,120,346.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 132,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,111,204.40. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,136 shares of company stock worth $8,380,342 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PIPR. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 9.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 694,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $192,977,000 after buying an additional 61,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 2.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 400,772 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $111,402,000 after buying an additional 9,759 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 35.0% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 357,167 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $88,456,000 after buying an additional 92,527 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 0.8% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 323,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,114,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 1.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 290,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,702,000 after buying an additional 2,839 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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