Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $1,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New Hampshire acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $899,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $235,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 416,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,244,000 after buying an additional 147,263 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 522.0% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 10,106 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $96.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $73.27 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.88.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($1.15). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Stifel Financial’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stifel Financial news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $966,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,592.77. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reduced their target price on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Stifel Financial from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.50.

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.