First Financial Bankshares Inc Invests $1.83 Million in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,829,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew 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 worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 11,691 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,240,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 72,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,687,000 after buying an additional 2,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 201,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,387,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

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Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Stifel Financial stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $98.28. 1,117,392 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 598,257. The company has a fifty day moving average of $106.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.75. Stifel Financial Corp. has a one year low of $73.51 and a one year high of $120.64. 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 has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.08.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is 29.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SF. Citigroup upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $117.71.

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.