Short Interest in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Grows By 320.1%

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,722,067 shares, an increase of 320.1% from the March 15th total of 647,946 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 447,860 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PIPR. Zacks Research downgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Bank of America began coverage on Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Monday, January 26th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $96.25 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Piper Sandler Companies from $115.25 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.50 target price on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 20,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.75, for a total value of $1,839,187.60. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 11,584 shares in the company, valued at $1,016,467.04. This trade represents a 64.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piper Sandler Companies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PIPR. Norges Bank bought a new position in Piper Sandler Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,239,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Piper Sandler Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,425,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Piper Sandler Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,752,000. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Piper Sandler Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,338,000. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 204,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,607,000 after buying an additional 53,193 shares during the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Piper Sandler Companies Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE PIPR traded up $0.37 on Friday, hitting $83.62. 483,468 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 708,988. The company has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $78.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.24. Piper Sandler Companies has a 52-week low of $53.25 and a 52-week high of $95.07.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported $6.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $2.16. The company had revenue of $635.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.52 million. Piper Sandler Companies had a return on equity of 21.85% and a net margin of 14.77%.Piper Sandler Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share.

Piper Sandler Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Piper Sandler Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.72%.

Piper Sandler Companies Company 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.