Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) Stock

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) had its price objective increased by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 12.49% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded Stifel Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.17.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $115.57 on Wednesday. Stifel Financial has a 52 week low of $60.17 and a 52 week high of $118.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.52 and a 200-day moving average of $88.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.10). Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In other Stifel Financial news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 1,818.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 27.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the second quarter valued at $64,000. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.