Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $105.57.

Several analysts recently issued reports on SF shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com lowered Stifel Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,544,535.42. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SF. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter worth about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the second quarter valued at $64,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 36.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 148.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SF traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $102.27. The stock had a trading volume of 987,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 568,952. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Stifel Financial has a 12 month low of $66.64 and a 12 month high of $119.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.49.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.10). Stifel Financial had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.5 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

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.