Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. cut its holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 623 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SF. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its position in Stifel Financial by 4.2% during the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its position in Stifel Financial by 51.8% during the first quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 3,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 2.7% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 80.4% during the first quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.2% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 24,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,328,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Stifel Financial news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $966,900.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 45,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,431,592.77. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

SF stock opened at $111.04 on Friday. Stifel Financial Corporation has a one year low of $73.27 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.90.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 35.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SF. Citigroup raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.78.

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.