Norges Bank Buys New Shares in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,295,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $137,448,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 62.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,086,000 after purchasing an additional 41,171 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,759,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 18,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 4,413 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,122,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,188,000 after purchasing an additional 31,101 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $94.17 on Tuesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $73.51 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $105.26 and a 200 day moving average of $105.34. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 29.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.