Great Lakes Advisors LLC Increases Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 280 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SF. FMR LLC boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,107,000 after buying an additional 1,256,595 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,923,000 after acquiring an additional 860,465 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $162,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $12,290,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth $11,936,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SF shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF opened at $95.25 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.37. The company has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Stifel Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $73.51 and a twelve month high of $120.64.

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

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 29.49%.

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.