Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 16,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,776,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256,595 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Stifel Financial by 78.3% in 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 acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $162,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,290,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,936,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

Stifel Financial stock opened at $98.10 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.41. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $73.51 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is presently 29.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities raised 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. assumed coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.