Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,402,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,213 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.16% of Stifel Financial worth $1,103,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 4.9% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of SF stock opened at $93.92 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $73.51 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced 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 net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. Research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.71.

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.