Strs Ohio Lowers Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Strs Ohio reduced its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,447 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned 0.08% of Stifel Financial worth $5,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 97.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 111.4% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $682,191,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SF. StockNews.com raised Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SF opened at $74.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.60. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company’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 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

Insider Activity

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

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.