Strs Ohio Trims Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Strs Ohio reduced its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 78,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,447 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $5,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.2% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 39.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.6% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,949,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 2.2% in the first quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 10,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SF opened at $74.89 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $54.81 and a fifty-two week high of $78.33.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 11.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 39.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SF shares. 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

In other Stifel Financial news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction on 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 owns 90,055 shares in the company, valued at $6,687,484.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Stifel Financial news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction on 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 owns 90,055 shares in the company, valued at $6,687,484.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

About Stifel Financial

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.