Zacks Research Downgrades Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) to Hold

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 research note published on Monday, September 8th,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on SF. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities increased 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 report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE SF traded down $0.96 during trading on Monday, hitting $114.34. 133,427 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 780,305. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business's fifty day moving average is $112.27 and its 200 day moving average is $100.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15 and a beta of 1.13. Stifel Financial has a fifty-two week low of $73.27 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid 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 payout ratio is 35.66%.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 84.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 49,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 65,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,839,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $680,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 12.0% in the second quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 84,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,760,000 after purchasing an additional 9,040 shares during 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.