Stifel Financial (SF) Competitors

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) and Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking and risk.

Is PIPR or SF a better dividend stock?

Piper Sandler Companies pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Stifel Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Piper Sandler Companies pays out 40.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stifel Financial pays out 38.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Stifel Financial has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Stifel Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, PIPR or SF?

Piper Sandler Companies has a beta of 1.4, suggesting that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stifel Financial has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in PIPR or SF?

72.8% of Piper Sandler Companies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.0% of Stifel Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of Piper Sandler Companies shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.5% of Stifel Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer PIPR or SF?

Piper Sandler Companies currently has a consensus target price of $181.50, suggesting a potential downside of 11.95%. Stifel Financial has a consensus target price of $84.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3.34%. Given Piper Sandler Companies' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Stifel Financial is more favorable than Piper Sandler Companies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Piper Sandler Companies	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Stifel Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is PIPR or SF more profitable?

Stifel Financial has a net margin of 11.34% compared to Stifel Financial's net margin of 7.33%. Stifel Financial's return on equity of 13.83% beat Piper Sandler Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Piper Sandler Companies	7.33%	13.83%	8.64%
Stifel Financial	11.34%	12.39%	1.52%

Does the media prefer PIPR or SF?

In the previous week, Piper Sandler Companies had 6 more articles in the media than Stifel Financial. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Piper Sandler Companies and 11 mentions for Stifel Financial. Piper Sandler Companies' average media sentiment score of 0.54 beat Stifel Financial's score of 0.51 indicating that Stifel Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Piper Sandler Companies	1 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Stifel Financial	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings and valuation, PIPR or SF?

Stifel Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Piper Sandler Companies. Stifel Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Piper Sandler Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Piper Sandler Companies	$1.34B	2.72	$85.49M	$5.88	35.06
Stifel Financial	$4.35B	1.93	$522.54M	$4.40	18.58

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer PIPR or SF?

Piper Sandler Companies received 99 more outperform votes than Stifel Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 57.50% of users gave Piper Sandler Companies an outperform vote while only 55.46% of users gave Stifel Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Piper Sandler Companies	Outperform Votes 368 57.50%	Underperform Votes 272 42.50%
Stifel Financial	Outperform Votes 269 55.46%	Underperform Votes 216 44.54%

Summary

Stifel Financial beats Piper Sandler Companies on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.