R Squared Ltd Takes Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $126,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SF. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 25,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 3,116 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,950,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,815,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.33.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of SF stock opened at $117.76 on Friday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $71.36 and a 1-year high of $120.64. The firm has a market cap of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $110.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.57. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.92%. On average, analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In other Stifel Financial news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

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.