Short Interest in Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) Decreases By 19.9%

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piper Sandler Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PIPR. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Aurdan Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,664,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 44,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,242,000 after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Piper Sandler Companies by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 15,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PIPR. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Piper Sandler Companies Price Performance

Shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock traded up $5.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $257.90. The company had a trading volume of 78,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,113. The company’s 50-day moving average is $274.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.92. Piper Sandler Companies has a twelve month low of $183.58 and a twelve month high of $351.80. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 1.46.

Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Piper Sandler Companies will post 14.14 EPS for the current year.

Piper Sandler Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Piper Sandler Companies’s payout ratio is currently 25.44%.

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.