MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 967 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 52,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 967 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $4,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 1,818.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 27.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 36.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF opened at $115.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.78. The company has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $60.45 and a fifty-two week high of $119.12.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.10). Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total value 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 approximately $18,544,535.42. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 4.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $113.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.17.

About Stifel Financial

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.