Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Earns Underperform Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an underperform rating and a $385.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PIPR. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $368.00 to $386.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 12th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $398.00 price objective on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research cut Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $389.67.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

Shares of PIPR stock opened at $353.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.54. Piper Sandler Companies has a 1 year low of $202.91 and a 1 year high of $380.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $347.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $336.82.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.96 by $0.86. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 19.91% and a net margin of 13.73%.The firm had revenue of $455.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $408.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Piper Sandler Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.10%.

Insider Activity at Piper Sandler Companies

In related news, CFO Katherine Patricia Clune sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.69, for a total value of $443,851.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 10,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,384,893.25. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.33, for a total value of $825,825.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 2,896 shares in the company, valued at $956,635.68. The trade was a 46.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,267 shares of company stock worth $3,763,746. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Piper Sandler Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 905 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 13.8% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 12.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 13.4% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR) is an investment bank and institutional securities firm that provides a range of capital markets and advisory services to corporations, institutions, municipalities and high-net-worth individuals. The firm’s core activities include investment banking and M&A advisory, underwriting and distribution of equity and debt securities, public finance, and sector-focused advisory across industries such as healthcare, energy, financial services and technology.

In addition to traditional investment banking, Piper Sandler offers equity and fixed income research, institutional sales and trading, and market-making services.