Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Shares Bought by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 280 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $4,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $137,448,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,628,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,346,000 after purchasing an additional 672,420 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,588,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,637,000 after purchasing an additional 630,255 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,207,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,088,000 after purchasing an additional 186,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $162,000. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $84.36 on Tuesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $73.27 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.63.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 29.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.71.

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.