JPMorgan Chase & Co. Begins Coverage on Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Free Report) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $120.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $113.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.57.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.60. 454,686 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 566,892. The company's 50 day moving average is $107.19 and its 200 day moving average is $92.16. Stifel Financial has a one year low of $64.47 and a one year high of $119.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07 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 (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was 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 owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. The trade was a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stifel Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $747,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256,595 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $293,188,000 after purchasing an additional 31,101 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,954,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $248,587,000 after buying an additional 22,040 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,279,267 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $214,023,000 after buying an additional 33,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,007,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $168,932,000 after buying an additional 7,113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.