NorthRock Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

NorthRock Partners LLC lowered its stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SF. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 336.2% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total value of $1,038,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,489,815.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

SF stock traded up $0.82 on Monday, hitting $85.52. 567,067 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,201. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.15. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $54.81 and a 12-month high of $86.14. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.13). Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SF. Citigroup lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $89.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Monday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.75.

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.