Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.46 Per Share

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.46 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

Stifel Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 41.0% per year over the last three years. Stifel Financial has a payout ratio of 19.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Stifel Financial to earn $9.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.0%.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

SF opened at $117.76 on Friday. Stifel Financial has a 12 month low of $71.36 and a 12 month high of $120.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.84 and a 200 day moving average of $99.57. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.11.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SF. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.33.

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In other news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total value of $2,904,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.57% 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.