Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Short Interest Update

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a growth of 48.1% from the February 28th total of 1,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 754,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $94.17 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.34. Stifel Financial has a one year low of $73.51 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,086,000 after purchasing an additional 41,171 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD acquired a new position in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,759,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 31.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,971,000 after acquiring an additional 4,413 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $293,188,000 after acquiring an additional 31,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

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.