Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 546 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Stifel Financial by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 12,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 4.9% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SF has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Stifel Financial stock opened at $111.38 on Wednesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $120.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.99.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.92%.

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.