Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.27 EPS

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27, Zacks reports. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SF stock traded down $1.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $115.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,049,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 647,493. The company has a 50 day moving average of $110.84 and a 200 day moving average of $99.89. The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Stifel Financial has a 12-month low of $71.36 and a 12-month high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is 26.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total value of $2,904,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. The trade was a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.57% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.33.

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.