Fisher Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,540,584 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 76,163 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 1.51% of Stifel Financial worth $163,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Stifel Financial by 46.5% in 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. Mather Group LLC. increased 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 acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SF shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Stifel Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF traded up $1.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $101.04. The company had a trading volume of 922,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,210. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.11. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $120.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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 net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. On average, research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Stifel Financial's payout ratio is presently 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.