Diametric Capital LP Acquires New Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Diametric Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in Stifel Financial by 4.9% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $94.82 on Wednesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $73.51 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $104.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.41. The company has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.71.

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.