Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF – Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,460,000 shares, a drop of 23.6% from the December 15th total of 1,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 538,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.6 %
Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $69.30 on Friday. Stifel Financial has a 12-month low of $53.47 and a 12-month high of $70.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.96 and its 200-day moving average is $62.90.
Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.69). Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.
Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 33.26%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Stifel Financial news, VP Mark P. Fisher sold 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total value of $524,475.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 40,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,601,331.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial during the third quarter valued at $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 97.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 111.4% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 39.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 321.8% during the fourth quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. 81.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have commented on SF. JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $62.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, October 6th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities 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, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.00.
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, the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe, and Canada.