Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Short Interest Down 19.9% in February

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 276,000 shares, a drop of 19.9% from the February 13th total of 344,400 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 109,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PIPR shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Piper Sandler Companies from $321.00 to $286.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

Shares of PIPR stock opened at $254.06 on Monday. Piper Sandler Companies has a 52 week low of $183.58 and a 52 week high of $351.80. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.51.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.81. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 17.00%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Piper Sandler Companies’s payout ratio is 25.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piper Sandler Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PIPR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $68,696,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 49.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 625,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,395,000 after purchasing an additional 205,584 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 697,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $209,312,000 after purchasing an additional 102,426 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,645,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,063,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $618,974,000 after purchasing an additional 31,400 shares in the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Piper Sandler Companies Company Profile

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.