HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256,595 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,923,000 after acquiring an additional 860,465 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $162,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $11,936,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,425,000 after purchasing an additional 76,163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 2.0 %

SF stock opened at $97.10 on Friday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $73.51 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $106.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.90. 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 capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.49%.

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.