Norges Bank Invests $172.45 Million in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,377,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $172,446,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.35% of Stifel Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 12,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.15.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $69.22 on Thursday. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $61.88 and a 52-week high of $89.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.16 and a 200-day moving average of $79.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 18.76%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 26.46%.

Stifel Financial Company Profile

Stifel Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1890, the firm has grown into a full‐service brokerage and investment banking organization serving individual investors, corporations and institutions. Through its principal subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company delivers a broad array of financial products and services backed by research‐driven insights.

The firm’s main business activities are organized into two core segments: Private Client Group and Institutional Group.