Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 43,408 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 55.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,408 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $3,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 62.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,086,000 after acquiring an additional 41,171 shares in the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,759,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 4,308.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,107,000 after buying an additional 1,256,595 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of 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 shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Six 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SF opened at $102.23 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.87. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $73.51 and a 1-year high of $120.64. The firm has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38 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.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. This is an increase from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.49%.

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.