Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Shares Acquired by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $2,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $747,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,595 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,290,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.7% during 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. raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 316.0% during 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. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $115.81 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.78. The company has a market capitalization of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 26.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 4.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SF. Citigroup increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities raised 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.33.

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.