Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of SF stock opened at $113.03 on Monday. Stifel Financial has a 12-month low of $73.27 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $112.03 and its 200 day moving average is $100.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90 and a beta of 1.13.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 35.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 84.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 3,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 49,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 65,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,839,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $680,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 84,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,760,000 after purchasing an additional 9,040 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.