Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.90.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:SF opened at $83.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.57. Stifel Financial has a fifty-two week low of $67.81 and a fifty-two week high of $89.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.99.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 19.32% and a net margin of 16.11%.Stifel Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total transaction of $372,240.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,736.80. This represents a 45.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stifel Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SF. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 35,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 18.1% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 26,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,838,000 after buying an additional 4,043 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 287.2% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 490,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,240,000 after acquiring an additional 364,013 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial by 3.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 48.7% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 5,927 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

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.