American Century Companies Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 53.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 83,742 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.07% of Stifel Financial worth $7,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter worth $250,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $1,776,000. Algebris UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $3,032,000. First Financial Bankshares Inc bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $1,829,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 422.2% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SF. StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $106.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.57.

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Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SF traded down $2.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.33. 1,596,106 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 647,125. 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 Corp. has a one year low of $73.27 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $100.88 and a 200 day moving average of $104.94.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial's payout ratio is 29.49%.

About Stifel Financial

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.