Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 32.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,306 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $1,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SF. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 97.5% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 39.3% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stifel Financial news, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $1,038,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,489,815.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 sale, the insider now owns 54,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $1,038,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,489,815.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,421 shares of company stock worth $5,639,783 in the last three months. 3.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $83.15 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.84 and a 200 day moving average of $70.69. The company has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $83.78.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.13). Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

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.