Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 1,047 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,256,595 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 78.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 860,465 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $12,290,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,464,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,509,000 after buying an additional 65,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 316.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 69,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,400,000 after buying an additional 52,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF opened at $117.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.57. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 1.11. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $71.36 and a 1 year high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.92%. As a group, analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.33.

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.