Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $117.71.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $91.71 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $109.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.12. Stifel Financial has a 12 month low of $72.78 and a 12 month high of $120.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 29.49%.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SF. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 8.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 2.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 54,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,116,000 after buying an additional 1,425 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 148.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 99.2% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 52,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,944,000 after buying an additional 26,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 53,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,443,000 after buying an additional 15,365 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.