Goldman Sachs Discusses Earnings From Stifel Financial Corp. (SF)

Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating and a $52 price target on shares of Stifel Financial Corp. SF after the company reported earnings. In a note to investors, Goldman Sachs writes, "Stifel Financial reported 1Q11 operating EPS of $0.52 compared to our/ consensus estimates of $0.59/0.61. Importantly, the shortfall was top-line driven as expenses were in line with estimates, and the lowest growth rate (at 17% YoY) since 1Q09. That said, we continue to view SF as one of the most interesting growth stories in our group, though we lower our 2011/ 2012/2013 EPS estimates to $2.45/$3.15/$3.70 from $2.82/$3.40/$3.90 and our 12-month price target moves to $52 from $55." Shares of SF lost 21 cents yesterday to close at $42.61, a loss of 0.5%.