Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
Equity research firmAnalyst rating accuracy & track record
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) is a Wall Street research and investment-banking firm that covers almost nothing but financial companies, banks, insurers, asset managers, and other money businesses. On BullishWhales we track 9 ranked KBW analysts, and the firm's combined BW Score is 56, which lands in the Solid tier. The BW Score is a 0-to-100 research signal that grades how well an analyst's past stock ratings actually performed. A 56 means KBW's bench, taken together, has been modestly better than an average analyst over the period we measure.
Two plain-English accuracy numbers sit behind that score. KBW's analysts have an average win rate of 48% versus their sector, that is, 48% of their rated calls beat the stock's own sector over the following 12 months. Their average price-target hit rate is 55%, meaning a little over half the time the stock reached the price target the analyst set. These are descriptive measures of what already happened. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
KBW has deep roots in financial-stock research. The firm was founded in 1962 by Harry Keefe Jr., Gene Bruyette, and Norbert Woods, who had worked together before striking out on their own. Keefe had been one of the first Wall Street analysts to specialize in bank stocks in the 1950s, and that focus on banks and financial institutions became the firm's identity.
The firm's modern history was marked by tragedy and rebuilding. KBW's New York headquarters sat on the 88th and 89th floors of the World Trade Center's South Tower, and in the September 11, 2001 attacks the firm lost 67 of its 172 New York employees. KBW rebuilt, completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange on November 9, 2006, and was acquired by Stifel Financial in a deal completed on February 15, 2013. It operates today as a Stifel company, still specializing in the financial sector.
On BullishWhales, KBW covers more than 130 actively rated tickers, weighted heavily toward financial-services names. Coverage spans regional banks, mortgage REITs, asset managers, property-and-casualty and specialty insurers, capital-markets firms, mortgage finance, insurance brokers, credit services, and exchanges, the full map of a financial-institutions specialist desk.
Accuracy varies a lot across the bench. Jade Rahmani is the firm's strongest performer and ranks #2 overall on the BW leaderboard with a BW Score of 91; his rated calls have averaged +13.5% above their sector over the following 12 months. Timothy Switzer (BW Score 84, +11.4%) and Wood Lay (BW Score 72, +7.2%) also carry our "Skilled" designation. Scores fall off further down the bench: Damon Delmonte, Michael Perito, and Meyer Shields rank lower on the BW leaderboard, with BW Scores of 38, 27, and 21, and their rated calls trailed their sectors over the same 12-month window. The BW Score blends three things, win rate versus sector, price-target hit rate, and average sector-excess return over 12 months, and shrinks each result toward the average so the score reflects repeatable performance rather than luck. It is re-scored weekly. The BW Score is a descriptive research signal, not investment advice.
Track record re-scored weekly
Q Score by analyst
Green analysts have beaten their sector; red have trailed it.
Coverage by sector
161 rated tickers across 7 industry groups.
Coverage & companies analyzed
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods is a financials-specialist research house, its analysts rate financial companies almost exclusively rather than spreading across every sector. On BullishWhales the firm covers more than 130 actively rated tickers, and nearly all of them fall under financial services, with a smaller group in real estate. That single-sector focus is the firm's calling card: it has researched banks and financial institutions since it was founded in 1962.
The coverage tilts most heavily toward banks and depositories, regional banks alone account for the largest share, at around 55 distinct tickers. After that come mortgage REITs (about 16), asset managers (about 15), property-and-casualty insurers (about 13), and specialty insurers (about 9), followed by capital-markets firms and a tail of mortgage-finance, insurance-broker, credit-services, real-estate-services, and exchange names, the coverage profile you would expect from a dedicated financial-institutions desk.
Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
Ranked by Q Score| Analyst | Rank | Q Score | Win % | PT-Hit % | Sector-Excess | Calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jade RahmaniSkilled | #12 | 83 | 59% | 67% | +11.0% | 56 |
| Timothy SwitzerSkilled | #18 | 81 | 57% | 70% | +10.3% | 34 |
| Wood LaySkilled | #26 | 76 | 65% | 64% | +8.6% | 35 |
| Bose GeorgeSkilled | #36 | 69 | 55% | 56% | +6.4% | 61 |
| Catherine MealorSkilled | #63 | 62 | 49% | 46% | +3.9% | 23 |
| Christopher O'Connell | #109 | 53 | 45% | 58% | +0.8% | 37 |
| Damon Delmonte | #158 | 45 | 46% | 51% | −1.6% | 41 |
| Meyer Shields | #244 | 29 | 40% | 52% | −7.1% | 43 |
| Michael Perito | #253 | 27 | 38% | 59% | −7.7% | 24 |
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods: analyst accuracy FAQ
How accurate are KBW analysts on BullishWhales?
Across the 9 KBW analysts we track, the firm averages a 48% win rate versus sector, 48% of rated calls beat the stock's own sector over the following 12 months, and a 55% price-target hit rate, meaning the stock reached the analyst's price target a little over half the time. The firm's combined BW Score is 56, in the Solid tier. These are descriptive measures of past results and do not guarantee future performance.
What sectors and companies does KBW cover?
KBW is a financial-institutions specialist. On BullishWhales it covers more than 130 actively rated tickers, almost all in financial services. The largest group is regional banks (around 55 tickers), followed by mortgage REITs (about 16), asset managers (about 15), property-and-casualty insurers (about 13), and specialty insurers (about 9), plus capital-markets firms, mortgage finance, insurance brokers, credit services, real-estate services, and exchanges.
Who is the top-rated KBW analyst?
Jade Rahmani is KBW's top-rated analyst on BullishWhales. He ranks #2 overall on the BW leaderboard with a BW Score of 91, a 60% win rate versus sector, and a 63% price-target hit rate; his rated calls have averaged +13.5% above their sector over the following 12 months. Timothy Switzer (BW Score 84) and Wood Lay (BW Score 72) also carry our "Skilled" designation. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
How is the KBW firm BW Score calculated?
The firm BW Score of 56 is the average of its 9 ranked analysts' individual BW Scores. Each analyst's score is built from three things: their win rate versus sector, their price-target hit rate, and their average sector-excess return over 12 months. Each rating is measured from the closing price on or after the call date, so there is no look-ahead, and the results are shrunk toward the average and multiple-testing-corrected so the score reflects repeatable skill rather than luck. A BW Score near 50 is roughly average.
How many KBW analysts does BullishWhales track?
BullishWhales tracks 9 ranked KBW analysts. They are Jade Rahmani (#2), Timothy Switzer (#6), Wood Lay (#19), Bose George (#26), Catherine Mealor (#48), Christopher O'Connell (#102), Damon Delmonte (#133), Michael Perito (#188), and Meyer Shields (#209). The ranks shown are each analyst's overall position on the BW leaderboard.
Which sectors does KBW rate most accurately?
KBW rates financial companies almost exclusively, so its accuracy is measured within financial services rather than across many industries. The firm's strongest results come from its top analysts: Jade Rahmani, Timothy Switzer, and Wood Lay have all beaten their sectors over the following 12 months, while the lower-ranked analysts on the bench carry lower BW Scores and trailed their sectors over the same window. Accuracy on BullishWhales is always measured against each stock's own sector, not the broad market.
How does KBW compare to other firms on BullishWhales?
KBW's firm BW Score of 56 places it in the Solid tier, modestly above an average analyst on the BullishWhales scale, where a score near 50 is roughly average. Its standout is Jade Rahmani, who ranks #2 of all analysts we track. As a single-sector financials specialist, KBW's strength is concentrated in banks, insurers, and other financial names rather than spread across every industry.
How often are KBW's BullishWhales scores updated?
BW Scores are re-scored weekly. Each week the model re-measures every tracked analyst's past ratings, 12-month return in excess of the stock's own sector plus whether the price target was hit, and refreshes both the individual analyst scores and the firm's averaged BW Score. The BW Score is a descriptive research signal, not investment advice.
Analyst ratings and Q Scores are provided for informational purposes only, not investment advice. Scores are estimates derived from publicly published ratings and price targets, marked to end-of-day market data, and may be revised as new calls are published or methodology is updated. Past performance does not guarantee future results.