Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $3.27 Million Investment in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 44,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,267,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Delphi Management Inc. MA raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 14,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 53.6% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 1,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SF. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.15.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF opened at $69.37 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.17. The company has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.00. Stifel Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $67.96 and a twelve month high of $89.83. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 18.76% and a net margin of 15.34%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

About Stifel Financial

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.