Algebris UK Ltd Buys New Shares in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Algebris UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 29,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,032,000. Stifel Financial accounts for approximately 0.8% of Algebris UK Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SF. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SF shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SF opened at $96.18 on Wednesday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a one year low of $73.51 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.08. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.49.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is currently 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.