Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,031 Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,031 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 47,124.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 425,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,062,000 after acquiring an additional 424,118 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,620,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,001,080,000 after acquiring an additional 217,415 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 416,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,244,000 after acquiring an additional 147,263 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,128,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $119,762,000 after acquiring an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,200,000. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SF has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research raised Stifel Financial from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 target price on Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Stifel Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 45,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,592.77. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $114.10 on Friday. Stifel Financial Corporation 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 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.87 and a 200-day moving average of $99.91.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.90%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Stifel Financial’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 35.66%.

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.