Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Raises Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 422.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 78.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of SF opened at $98.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.48. Stifel Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $73.51 and a twelve month high of $120.64.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SF. StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

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.