Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 412,100 shares, a decrease of 15.1% from the September 30th total of 485,300 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 114,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:PIPR traded down $3.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $285.48. 64,000 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 107,255. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.37. Piper Sandler Companies has a 52 week low of $137.20 and a 52 week high of $306.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.55 and a beta of 1.39.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.26. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 16.18% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company had revenue of $357.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $338.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Piper Sandler Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Piper Sandler Companies will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Piper Sandler Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel John W. Geelan sold 1,789 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.73, for a total value of $459,289.97. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 15,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,867,637.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 12,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.63, for a total value of $3,004,017.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 160,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,883,279.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel John W. Geelan sold 1,789 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.73, for a total value of $459,289.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 15,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,867,637.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,276 shares of company stock worth $3,936,252 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Piper Sandler Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,130,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 24,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,869,000 after purchasing an additional 3,124 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 29,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Piper Sandler Companies by 486.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.79% of the company’s stock.

About Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies operates as an investment bank and institutional securities firm that serves corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States and internationally. It offers investment banking services and institutional sales, trading, and research services for various equity and fixed income products; advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt private placements, and debt and restructuring advisory; raises capital through equity and debt financings; underwrites municipal issuances; and municipal financial advisory and loan placement services, as well as various over-the-counter derivative products.