Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

SF has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.40.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $129.80 on Thursday. Stifel Financial has a 1 year low of $73.27 and a 1 year high of $133.08. The firm has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $118.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 12.44%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,451,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,674,000 after purchasing an additional 419,038 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,371,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $269,128,000 after buying an additional 45,631 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,797,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $186,578,000 after buying an additional 9,188 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,485,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,560,000 after acquiring an additional 314,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the second quarter worth $143,377,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

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.