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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Stifel Financial from “buy” to “hold,” while broader analyst sentiment remains a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $91.90.
• Stifel exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.42 in EPS versus $1.33 expected and $1.45 billion in revenue, up 13% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company, with major firms including BlackRock, Wellington Management, AQR Capital Management and Dimensional Fund Advisors increasing their stakes.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.90.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SF opened at $83.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's 50-day moving average is $75.61 and its 200-day moving average is $76.57. Stifel Financial has a 1-year low of $67.81 and a 1-year high of $89.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.09. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stifel Financial news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total transaction of $372,240.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $453,736.80. The trade was a 45.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.36% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the second quarter valued at about $1,031,197,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,451,787 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $391,674,000 after acquiring an additional 419,038 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 94.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,893,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $362,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408,347 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,403,000 after purchasing an additional 890,810 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,371,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $269,128,000 after purchasing an additional 45,631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

Stifel Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1890, the firm has grown into a full‐service brokerage and investment banking organization serving individual investors, corporations and institutions. Through its principal subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company delivers a broad array of financial products and services backed by research‐driven insights.

The firm's main business activities are organized into two core segments: Private Client Group and Institutional Group.

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