Legal & General Group Plc Sells 10,751 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 191,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,751 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.19% of Stifel Financial worth $20,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings 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 valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SF. StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.71.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of SF opened at $82.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $98.41 and a 200-day moving average of $104.69.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is an increase 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 is presently 29.49%.

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.