Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 233,255 Piper Sandler Companies $PIPR

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 233,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,239,000. Norges Bank owned 1.32% of Piper Sandler Companies as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,128,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $722,954,000 after buying an additional 17,964 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 2.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 714,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,940,000 after buying an additional 20,232 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 23.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 248,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,066,000 after buying an additional 47,885 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 200,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,731,000 after buying an additional 17,392 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 9.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 165,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,403,000 after buying an additional 14,786 shares during the period. 72.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Piper Sandler Companies Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:PIPR opened at $76.55 on Friday. Piper Sandler Companies has a twelve month low of $62.49 and a twelve month high of $95.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.49 and its 200-day moving average is $82.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.41.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.15. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 21.09% and a net margin of 13.94%.The company had revenue of $469.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.09 earnings per share. Piper Sandler Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Piper Sandler Companies will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piper Sandler Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Piper Sandler Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Piper Sandler Companies’s payout ratio is presently 20.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northland Securities raised Piper Sandler Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research lowered Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Piper Sandler Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.06.

Piper Sandler Companies Profile

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR) is an investment bank and institutional securities firm that provides a range of capital markets and advisory services to corporations, institutions, municipalities and high-net-worth individuals. The firm’s core activities include investment banking and M&A advisory, underwriting and distribution of equity and debt securities, public finance, and sector-focused advisory across industries such as healthcare, energy, financial services and technology.

In addition to traditional investment banking, Piper Sandler offers equity and fixed income research, institutional sales and trading, and market-making services.