Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 113,703.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,654,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $621,889,000 after buying an additional 10,644,895 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Stifel Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,258,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,504,000 after acquiring an additional 89,580 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 422.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,120,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,123,000 after purchasing an additional 2,522,805 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,992,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $178,572,000 after purchasing an additional 28,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,828,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,121,000 after purchasing an additional 466,338 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,055 shares in the company, valued at $6,687,484.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Stifel Financial news, insider Victor Nesi sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $2,713,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 54,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,125,150.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas B. Michaud sold 25,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $1,887,763.46. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 90,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,687,484.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.52% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $74.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $54.81 and a 1 year high of $78.33. The company has a market capitalization of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.18.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.19. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 11.60%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 39.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on SF. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $86.50 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

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.