Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a growth of 20.4% from the March 15th total of 1,910,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 849,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $137,448,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,628,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $915,346,000 after buying an additional 672,420 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,588,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,637,000 after buying an additional 630,255 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 47,124.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 425,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,062,000 after acquiring an additional 424,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 477.9% during the 4th quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 238,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,347,000 after acquiring an additional 197,598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of SF traded up $2.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $85.57. 1,300,593 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 678,714. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 1.00. Stifel Financial has a 1 year low of $73.27 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The firm's fifty day moving average is $93.71 and its 200-day moving average is $103.93.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($1.12). Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JMP Securities dropped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.50.

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.