Short Interest in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) Declines By 17.0%

Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,041,498 shares, a decrease of 17.0% from the February 26th total of 4,870,686 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,346,384 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider David Rubulotta sold 600 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.87, for a total value of $49,724.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $123,315.52. This trade represents a 28.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SF. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 10,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in Stifel Financial by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $70.74 on Monday. Stifel Financial has a 1 year low of $48.85 and a 1 year high of $89.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.52. The company has a market cap of $10.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.15. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SF. UBS Group set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $93.33 to $103.33 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $92.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.13.

About Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1890, the firm has grown into a full‐service brokerage and investment banking organization serving individual investors, corporations and institutions. Through its principal subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company delivers a broad array of financial products and services backed by research‐driven insights.

The firm’s main business activities are organized into two core segments: Private Client Group and Institutional Group.