Machina Capital S.A.S. Invests $222,000 in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SF. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,107,000 after buying an additional 1,256,595 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,188,000 after buying an additional 31,101 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,279,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $214,023,000 after buying an additional 33,953 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,923,000 after buying an additional 860,465 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,696,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,355,000 after buying an additional 20,110 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:SF opened at $96.45 on Monday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $72.78 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.12.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Equities research analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 29.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SF. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Company 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.