Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Short Interest Up 48.1% in March

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a growth of 48.1% from the February 28th total of 1,290,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 754,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

SF traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $94.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,026,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 625,593. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.34. Stifel Financial has a one year low of $73.51 and a one year high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. As a group, research analysts predict that Stifel Financial will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 7,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $800,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 28,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,040,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.71.

About Stifel Financial

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.