Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Stifel Financial has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen in a recent research report.
• Despite the downgrade, Wells Fargo raised Stifel's target price to $125.00, while Citigroup and TD Cowen made differing adjustments to their price targets.
• The company reported $0.49 earnings per share, significantly missing analysts' expectations of $1.64 per share, highlighting potential concerns regarding its financial performance.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $110.88.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF stock traded down $1.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $109.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,148,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 646,091. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Stifel Financial has a 1 year low of $73.27 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.71.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.18%.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In related news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $966,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 45,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,592.77. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SF. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 7,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $800,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 9,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.2% during the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.0% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

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.