Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Stock Position Lifted by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 690,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,428 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $47,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SF. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 39.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Stifel Financial by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 46,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,857,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 30,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $78.28 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.10. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $54.81 and a fifty-two week high of $79.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 1.18.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.19. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.25%.

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In related news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,687,484.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,687,484.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $2,713,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 54,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SF. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Company 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.