Zacks Research Upgrades Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) to Hold

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SF. UBS Group decreased their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given 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 $91.15.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $72.46 on Wednesday. Stifel Financial has a twelve month low of $60.62 and a twelve month high of $89.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 1.05.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 15.34%.The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SF. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,893,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $362,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,347 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $172,446,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 51.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,403,000 after purchasing an additional 890,810 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 58.7% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,875,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $138,637,000 after purchasing an additional 693,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $56,126,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

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.