Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,651,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 322,052 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $281,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 217,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,080,000 after buying an additional 10,039 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,588,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,637,000 after acquiring an additional 630,255 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 190,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 48.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 255,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,102,000 after purchasing an additional 83,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 3,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

NYSE SF opened at $94.17 on Tuesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12 month low of $73.51 and a 12 month high of $120.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 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.