Earnest Partners LLC Raises Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,954,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,040 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial comprises approximately 1.2% of Earnest Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 2.88% of Stifel Financial worth $248,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 0.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 371,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $30,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Stifel Financial by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 25,502 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 3,116 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 51,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,357,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,342,000 after acquiring an additional 8,496 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 25.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,622,000 after acquiring an additional 3,865 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com lowered Stifel Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.00.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

SF traded up $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $92.91. 464,693 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 568,461. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 1.09. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $54.81 and a 1 year high of $94.18. The business's 50 day moving average price is $85.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.68.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The firm's revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.18%.

Stifel Financial Company 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.