BofA Securities raised its price target on Piper Sandler (NYSE: PIPR) to $395 from $385 but maintained an Underperform rating on the investment bank’s shares. The firm’s recalibration of the target comes after Piper Sandler reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $6.88, a result that outpaced BofA’s internal forecast of $4.77 and the consensus figure of $4.76.
The company’s latest figures reflect healthy near-term profitability: diluted earnings per share amounted to $13.30 over the trailing twelve months. Market metrics show a market capitalization of $6.54 billion and a trailing P/E ratio of 27.45. According to InvestingPro data cited with the company’s metrics, the stock sits slightly above the platform’s calculated Fair Value.
BofA attributed the fourth-quarter upside largely to higher operating income, with investment banking revenue coming in substantially above expectations. Specifically, investment banking receipts exceeded BofA’s estimate by 25% and topped consensus by 29%. The bank said growth concentrated in the financial services, services and industrials sectors more than offset weaker institutional brokerage revenue and elevated compensation costs.
Revenue performance underscored the quarter’s strength. Piper Sandler posted $666.05 million in revenue for Q4 2025, outperforming a projected $518.07 million by approximately 28.56%. Over the trailing twelve months, the firm achieved revenue growth of 13.46%.
Management also announced several capital-return actions aimed at shareholders. The board approved a $5 special dividend to be paid in the first quarter of 2026, and signaled plans to increase share repurchases. Piper Sandler additionally announced a 4-for-1 stock split set to take effect on March 24. InvestingPro data noted that the firm has paid dividends for nine consecutive years, carries a current dividend yield of 1.75%, and recorded dividend growth of 61.11% over the last year.
BofA’s expectations for buybacks are also explicit: the firm projects share repurchases will exceed stock-based compensation grants by 100,000 shares in fiscal year 2026. On liquidity, Piper Sandler reported a current ratio of 2.05, indicating that the company’s liquid assets exceed short-term obligations.
In aggregate, the company’s reported adjusted EPS of $6.88 for the fourth quarter also compared favorably with another published projection of $4.73, representing a 45.45% surprise versus that forecast. The strong earnings outcome and the revenue beat drew investor attention and factored into BofA’s revised price target despite the adviser retaining an Underperform stance.
These developments provide a snapshot of Piper Sandler’s recent operating results, balance-sheet liquidity and capital-return posture. The combination of elevated investment banking revenue, continued dividend payments, announced buybacks and a stock split form the factual basis for BofA’s updated target and the market data cited above.
Note: InvestingPro supplied valuation data and additional metrics referenced in this report.