Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.98 Million in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 28,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,978,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 23.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 152,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,386,000 after buying an additional 29,026 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 114,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,019,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial by 23.5% during the third quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 38,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 7,357 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 20.6% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 670,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,196,000 after purchasing an additional 114,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the third quarter valued at about $770,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $74.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.55. The stock has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 1.18. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $54.81 and a 1-year high of $78.33.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 11.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. Analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 39.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

In other news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $2,713,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 54,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $2,713,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 54,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,687,484.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stifel Financial Profile

Stifel Financial Corp., a financial services and bank holding company, provides retail and institutional wealth management, and investment banking services to individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Global Wealth Management, Institutional Group, and Other.