Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $118.33 and last traded at $117.98, with a volume of 63008 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $116.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $113.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities upped their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.17.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $103.28 and a 200 day moving average of $90.14. The company has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.10). The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In other Stifel Financial news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. This trade 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 is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 78.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,923,000 after acquiring an additional 860,465 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 929.9% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 296,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,957,000 after purchasing an additional 267,777 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,290,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.