Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Shares Bought by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF opened at $83.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.00. Stifel Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $73.27 and a twelve month high of $120.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.28.

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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup cut their price target on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JMP Securities lowered their target price on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.71.

Stifel Financial 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.