Meritage Portfolio Management Acquires 2,207 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,207 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SF. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,802,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,172,000 after purchasing an additional 8,198 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 187.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,220,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $136,445,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448,068 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Stifel Financial by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,201,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,816,000 after purchasing an additional 38,575 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,183,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,728,000 after purchasing an additional 518,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 992,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 46,902 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stifel Financial news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Stifel Financial news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,887,763.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,687,484.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.50.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of SF traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.29. The company had a trading volume of 224,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 546,541. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.23. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $54.81 and a 52-week high of $79.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 11.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 38.18%.

About Stifel Financial

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.