Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,651,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 322,052 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 2.59% of Stifel Financial worth $281,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. State Street Corp raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,188,000 after purchasing an additional 31,101 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,588,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,637,000 after buying an additional 630,255 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 1.5% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,279,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $214,023,000 after acquiring an additional 33,953 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Stifel Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,696,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,355,000 after acquiring an additional 20,110 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,425,000 after acquiring an additional 76,163 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $94.17 on Tuesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $120.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $105.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.34.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. On average, research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 29.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SF. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.71.

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.