Alliancebernstein L.P. Reduces Holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,651,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 322,052 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 2.59% of Stifel Financial worth $281,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 84.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Citigroup cut their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.86.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SF stock traded down $10.50 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $86.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,406,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,642. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $104.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.34. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $73.51 and a 52-week high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.