Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 7,100 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 44.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,915 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $2,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,628,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,346,000 after acquiring an additional 672,420 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 32.2% in the 4th 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 raised its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 5.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $137,448,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $128,088,000 after acquiring an additional 186,352 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on SF shares. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.50.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SF stock traded up $0.26 on Monday, reaching $86.03. 868,369 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 681,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Stifel Financial Corp. has a one year low of $73.27 and a one year high of $120.64. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $92.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.90.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last released its 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 $1.64 by ($1.15). 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 analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a boost from Stifel Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial's payout ratio is currently 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.