Zions Bancorporation N.A. Acquires 5,503 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,503 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $3,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SF. FMR LLC raised 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 valued at $747,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256,595 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $293,188,000 after purchasing an additional 31,101 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33,953 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $183,923,000 after buying an additional 860,465 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,696,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,355,000 after buying an additional 20,110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF stock opened at $102.23 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 market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $106.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 29.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. initiated coverage on Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities lifted their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.71.

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.