Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 324,180 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,646,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 324,180 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 1.61% of Stifel Financial worth $174,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,628,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $915,346,000 after acquiring an additional 672,420 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Stifel Financial by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,588,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $274,637,000 after buying an additional 630,255 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $163,425,000 after buying an additional 76,163 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $137,448,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,207,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $128,088,000 after acquiring an additional 186,352 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.50.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $85.73. 916,923 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 680,655. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.00. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $73.27 and a 52-week high of $120.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.92.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($1.12). Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial's payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

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.