Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $105.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JMP Securities cut their price objective on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $98.90 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $90.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.92. Stifel Financial has a fifty-two week low of $73.27 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The company has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.15). Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $137,448,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 314.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,383,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $126,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,665 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,628,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,346,000 after purchasing an additional 672,420 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,588,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $274,637,000 after buying an additional 630,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 47,124.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 425,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,062,000 after buying an additional 424,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.