Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $106.75.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $94.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stifel Financial news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total transaction of $966,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 45,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,431,592.77. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SF. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $162,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 27,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,920,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,931 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 29,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SF traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $110.27. 312,827 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 688,463. Stifel Financial has a one year low of $73.27 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.15). Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 12.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. Stifel Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is 35.18%.

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.