Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $271,000 Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 422.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SF. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SF has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE SF opened at $98.28 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $106.74 and its 200-day moving average is $104.48. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. Sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 29.49%.

Stifel Financial 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.