Norges Bank Makes New $137.45 Million Investment in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,295,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $137,448,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.27% of Stifel Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities increased their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $94.17 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.34. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.08. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $73.51 and a 1 year 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.

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 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%. Analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.49%.

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.