Stifel Financial Corp. (SF) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.46 on March 17th

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given 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 positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

Stifel Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 41.0% annually over the last three years. Stifel Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 19.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $117.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Stifel Financial has a 1-year low of $71.36 and a 1-year high of $120.64.

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

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In other news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 159,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SF shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started 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 on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.33.

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.