Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Short Interest Up 48.1% in March

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, an increase of 48.1% from the February 28th total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 754,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.29.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $137,448,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $183,923,000 after buying an additional 860,465 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,628,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,346,000 after buying an additional 672,420 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 477.9% in the fourth quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 238,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,347,000 after buying an additional 197,598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,207,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $128,088,000 after buying an additional 186,352 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock traded down $11.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $85.34. The stock had a trading volume of 217,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 764,246. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 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 1-year low of $73.51 and a 1-year high of $120.64. The stock's fifty day moving average is $104.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.34.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial's payout ratio is currently 29.49%.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

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.