Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) is a New York-based investment bank specializing in financial services and a wholly owned subsidiary of Stifel Financial. It is known for bank and insurance research and, with Nasdaq, maintains the KBW Nasdaq family of financial-sector indexes.
Activity24M
RatingsPrice targetsKey figures
- Stocks covered
- 39712M
- Actions
- 1,20212M
- Ratings / Price targets
- 1,197 / 5
- Upgrades / Downgrades
- 51 / 38
- Initiations
- 1
- Buy-rated
- 47%of 396 rated
- Median upside
- +12.9%
- Targets raised / lowered
- 3 / 0
- On record
- Apr 2012 – Sep 2026
Overview
As of 2026 KBW covers more than 600 financial services companies with about 80 analysts, spanning banks, insurers, asset managers, exchanges, consumer and specialty finance, fintech and digital assets. Its Midcap Banks and Consumer Finance research teams ranked first in Extel's 2025 All-America survey.
Harry Keefe Jr., Gene Bruyette and Norbert Woods founded KBW in 1962 around bank-stock research. On September 11, 2001, the firm lost 67 of its 171 New York-based employees at its World Trade Center headquarters; it rebuilt and launched European research from London in 2004. KBW listed on the NYSE in 2006 and was acquired by Stifel Financial for $575 million in 2013, keeping its own brand.
Milestones
- 1962
Founded by Harry Keefe Jr., Gene Bruyette and Norbert Woods
- 1991
KBW Bank Index launched
- 2001
Loses 67 employees in the World Trade Center attack
- 2004
Launches European research business in London
- 2006
Initial public offering on the NYSE
- 2013
Acquired by Stifel Financial for $575 million
Firm facts
- Legal name
- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.
- Type
- Boutique
- Founded
- 1962
- Headquarters
- New York, United States
- Parent
- Stifel Financial Corp.
- Listing
- NYSE: SF
- President and Chief Executive Officer
- Thomas B. Michaud
- Head of U.S. Equities and Director of Research
- Matthew Kelley
- Rating scale
- OutperformMarket PerformUnderperform12 months
- Also filed as
- Keefe Bruyette & Woods · Keefe, Bruyette& Woods · KBW · Keefe Bruyette
- Website
- kbw.com
Research philosophy
The best investment strategy I've seen in 40 years is buying the trophies when they're on sale.
In a 2026 podcast, chief executive Tom Michaud emphasized management quality when selecting companies. He argued that stock selection would become more important as passive funds gained market share, and favored keeping cash available to invest when fear drove prices too low. KBW's equity strategy team provides a common economic and interest-rate outlook for the firm's estimates and combines quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify investment signals in bank stocks.
Rating methodology
Stocks are rated Outperform, Market Perform or Underperform on expected 12-month performance relative to the sector index, using a ±10 percentage-point band.
Coverage12M
Sectors
Most covered24M
| Stock | Rating | Target |
|---|---|---|
 The Progressive CorporationPGR | Outperform | $92 |
 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.AJG | Market Perform | — |
 Lazard LtdLAZ | Market Perform | — |
 The Allstate CorporationALL | Underperform | — |
 AXIS Capital Holdings LimitedAXS | Outperform | — |
 Rocket Companies, Inc.RKT | Outperform | $16 |
 The Travelers Companies, Inc.TRV | Market Perform | — |
 Arch Capital Group Ltd.ACGL | Market Perform | — |
 Brown & Brown, Inc.BRO | Market Perform | — |
 Evercore Inc.EVR | Outperform | — |
Most active analysts
- Christopher McGratty1 notesGS
Recent actions
| Date | Stock | Rating action | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22 | PRPriority Technology Holdings, Inc.PRTH | Reiterate | Market Perform |
| Sep 18 | JXJackson Financial Inc.JXN | Reiterate | Market Perform |
| Sep 18 | The Progressive CorporationPGR | Reiterate | Outperform |
| Sep 18 | THThe Hanover Insurance Group, Inc.THG | Reiterate | Market Perform |
| Sep 17 | BCBCB Bancorp, Inc.BCBP | Reiterate | Market Perform |
| Sep 16 | UCUnited Community Banks, Inc.UCB | Reiterate | Outperform |
| Sep 16 | TRTrustmark CorporationTRMK | Reiterate | Market Perform |
| Sep 16 | GNGenworth Financial, Inc.GNW | Reiterate | Outperform |
| Sep 15 | CSCoinShares PLC Ordinary SharesCSHR | Reiterate | Outperform |
| Sep 14 |  Redwood Trust, Inc.RWT | Reiterate | Outperform |
| Sep 14 | JMJohn Marshall Bancorp, Inc.JMSB | Reiterate | Outperform |
| Sep 10 |  Simmons First National CorporationSFNC | Upgrade | Market Perform →Outperform |