Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $312.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PIPR shares. Wolfe Research raised Piper Sandler Companies from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $339.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Piper Sandler Companies

In other news, insider Jonathan J. Doyle sold 3,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.84, for a total value of $1,120,346.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 132,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,111,204.40. This represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott C. Taylor sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.86, for a total value of $831,636.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,219,795.34. This represents a 13.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,380,342 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piper Sandler Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PIPR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $59,820,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Piper Sandler Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $49,826,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 1,155.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 200,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,630,000 after acquiring an additional 184,210 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Piper Sandler Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,021,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 39,239.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 108,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,988,000 after acquiring an additional 108,693 shares during the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Piper Sandler Companies Trading Down 1.2%

Piper Sandler Companies stock opened at $340.22 on Friday. Piper Sandler Companies has a 1 year low of $202.91 and a 1 year high of $374.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $336.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71 and a beta of 1.45.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.96. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 18.67%. The company had revenue of $405.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from Piper Sandler Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.63%.

About Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies operates as an investment bank and institutional securities firm that serves corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States and internationally. It offers investment banking services and institutional sales, trading, and research services for various equity and fixed income products; advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt private placements, and debt and restructuring advisory; raises capital through equity and debt financings; underwrites municipal issuances; and municipal financial advisory and loan placement services, as well as various over-the-counter derivative products.