Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 351,146 Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 48.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,075,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 351,146 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $79,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 12,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, BOKF NA boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 1,626.9% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $136.00 to $92.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 price objective (down from $89.00) on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.75.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF opened at $78.77 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $67.81 and a twelve month high of $89.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.92 and a 200-day moving average of $77.02.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.45 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 26.46%.

Stifel Financial 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.