Heartland Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,267 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Stifel Financial worth $10,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SF. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 146.7% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 63,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,900,000 after purchasing an additional 37,516 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 72,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,037,000 after purchasing an additional 14,779 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 55,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,006,000 after purchasing an additional 15,470 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 804,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,753,000 after purchasing an additional 199,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 317,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 71,636 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SF opened at $70.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $75.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.84. Stifel Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $62.90 and a fifty-two week high of $89.83.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 26.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.15.

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.