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

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27, Zacks reports. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 12.98%.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $117.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $110.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.44. Stifel Financial has a 1-year low of $71.36 and a 1-year high of $119.12.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other Stifel Financial news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 159,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,544,535.42. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

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.