Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 13,814 Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 93.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,814 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $2,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SF. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 47,124.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 425,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,062,000 after acquiring an additional 424,118 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,564,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,620,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,001,080,000 after acquiring an additional 217,415 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 416,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,244,000 after acquiring an additional 147,263 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,128,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $119,762,000 after acquiring an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 45,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,431,592.77. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 7 shares of company stock valued at $781. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $114.2180 on Monday. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.27 and a 52-week high of $120.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.47 and a 200-day moving average of $99.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 35.66%.

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.