Stifel
Stifel is a St. Louis–based full-service investment bank and wealth manager whose broker-dealer, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, is owned by NYSE-listed Stifel Financial Corp. With subsidiary KBW it runs one of the largest US equity research platforms, weighted toward small- and mid-cap stocks.
Activity24M
RatingsPrice targetsKey figures
- Stocks covered
- 63312M
- Actions
- 2,84212M
- Ratings / Price targets
- 1,300 / 1,542
- Upgrades / Downgrades
- 29 / 37
- Buy-rated
- 71%of 508 rated
- Median upside
- +16.1%
- Targets raised / lowered
- 841 / 508
- On record
- Feb 2012 – Sep 2026
Overview
Including KBW and its European, UK and Canadian units, Stifel had more than 120 analysts covering over 1,800 stocks in 12 sectors as of April 2025, 1,147 of them US-domiciled, and it is the largest provider of global small-cap coverage. KBW specialises in financial institutions. It continued to expand its equity research group in 2008, amid layoffs and consolidation on Wall Street.
Stifel traces its roots to Altheimer and Rawlings Investment Company, founded in St. Louis in 1890; the firm took the Stifel, Nicolaus name in 1923 and went public through holding company Stifel Financial Corp. in 1983. Its 2005 purchase of Legg Mason Capital Markets from Citigroup nearly doubled the firm, followed by Thomas Weisel Partners (2010), KBW (2013) and Bryan Garnier (2025). Today it combines wealth management with a global institutional group.
Milestones
- 1890
Altheimer and Rawlings Investment Company founded in St. Louis
- 1983
Holding company Stifel Financial Corp. formed and taken public
- 2005
Acquires Legg Mason Capital Markets from Citigroup
- 2010
Merges with Thomas Weisel Partners
- 2013
Acquires Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
- 2025
Acquires European investment bank Bryan Garnier
Firm facts
- Legal name
- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated
- Type
- Full-service
- Founded
- 1890
- Headquarters
- St. Louis, United States
- Parent
- Stifel Financial Corp.
- Listing
- NYSE: SF
- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
- Ronald J. Kruszewski
- Global Co-Head of Equity Research & Sales
- Brian Donlin
- Rating scale
- BuyHoldSell12 months
- Also filed as
- Stifel Nicolaus
- Website
- stifel.com
Research philosophy
The Company believes that industry experience, an opportunistic approach, and broad market-cap coverage drive excess returns and its award-winning franchise.
As of 2026, Stifel says its analysts develop original research through management interviews, company visits, channel checks, and surveys of customers and industry experts. In the firm's 2025 annual report, chairman and CEO Ronald Kruszewski emphasized investing as a way to compound wealth, contrasting it with gambling as a form of consumption.
Rating methodology
Ratings are Buy (expected 12-month total return above 10%), Hold (−5% to 10%) and Sell (below −5%); Stifel Canada also uses Speculative Buy.
Coverage12M
Sectors
Most covered24M
| Stock | Rating | Target |
|---|---|---|
 TFI International Inc.TFII | Hold | $150 |
 Badger Meter, Inc.BMI | Buy | $165 |
 XPO Logistics, Inc.XPO | Buy | $241 |
 Valmont Industries, Inc.VMI | Buy | $678 |
 Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.ODFL | Buy | $263 |
 Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.KNX | Buy | $88 |
 Parker-Hannifin CorporationPH | Hold | $1,075 |
 CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.CRWD | Buy | $240 |
 Helios Technologies, Inc.HLIO | Buy | $95 |
 J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.JBHT | Hold | $261 |
Most active analysts
- Stephen Gengaro64 notesLBRTBKRSLB
- Nathan Jones60 notesBMIAOSCR
- Bruce Chan54 notesSAIALSTRXPO
- Tore Svanberg52 notesCRDOSITMSMTC
- Chris O'Cull51 notesWENPLNTCMG
- Brad Reback46 notesMSFTNOWESTC
Recent actions
| Date | Stock | Rating action | Rating | Target | Analyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22 |  Microsoft CorporationMSFT | Target | $530 →$575 | Brad Reback | |
| Sep 22 | CLCelldex Therapeutics, Inc.CLDX | Target | $58 →$68 | Alex Thompson | |
| Sep 22 | KYKymera Therapeutics, Inc.KYMR | Reiterate | Buy | $114 →$152 | |
| Sep 21 | RSRush Street Interactive, Inc.RSI | Target | $34 | Jeffrey Stantial | |
| Sep 21 |  NIKE, Inc.NKE | Reiterate | Hold | $45 →$40 | Peter McGoldrick |
| Sep 18 |  Builders FirstSource, Inc.BLDR | Target | $70 →$65 | Andrew Carter | |
| Sep 18 | YEYETI Holdings, Inc.YETI | Upgrade | Hold →Buy | $45 →$50 | |
| Sep 18 |  Intuit Inc.INTU | Reiterate | Hold | ||
| Sep 18 | ADAgree Realty CorporationADC | Reiterate | Buy |