KBC Group NV Purchases 1,552 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 54.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,107,000 after buying an additional 1,256,595 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd 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. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,279,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $214,023,000 after purchasing an additional 33,953 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 78.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,923,000 after purchasing an additional 860,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,696,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,355,000 after buying an additional 20,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Stifel Financial

In other Stifel Financial news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total transaction of $2,904,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 159,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. 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. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.33.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock opened at $115.81 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $110.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $71.36 and a 12-month high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. On average, analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio 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.