Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Stifel Financial's rating was downgraded from "strong-buy" to "hold" by analysts at Zacks Research.
• The company recently posted earnings of $1.71 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.65, with revenues of $1.28 billion.
• Institutional investors own approximately 82.01% of Stifel Financial's stock, with significant stake increases from firms like Vanguard Group and Boston Partners.

Zacks Research cut shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of SF traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $115.29. 858,559 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 630,044. The company has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 1.13. Stifel Financial has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 285.7% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 38,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,079,000 after buying an additional 28,480 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,184,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $886,000 after buying an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth $2,361,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 127,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,503,000 after buying an additional 19,699 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.