Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Stock Holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,809 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $5,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Stifel Financial Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE:SF opened at $102.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.08. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $73.51 and a 1 year high of $120.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 29.49%.

Stifel Financial Company 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.