Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started 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 on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of SF opened at $103.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $109.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.13. Stifel Financial has a one year low of $72.78 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 1.11.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. Equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in 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 purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth $2,759,000. Curi RMB Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 15.7% in the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 69,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,507,000 after buying an additional 9,396 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 4,308.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,256,595 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.