Fmr LLC Buys 672,420 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Fmr LLC raised its stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,628,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 672,420 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned approximately 8.43% of Stifel Financial worth $915,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $137,448,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 buying an additional 860,465 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $162,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,936,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 299,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,746,000 after acquiring an additional 93,341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.86.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $78.38 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $73.27 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $102.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.26.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Stifel Financial’s dividend 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.