Sit Investment Associates Inc. Has $2.84 Million Holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $2,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SF. Mather Group LLC. increased 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 purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 26.6% during the 4th 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. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Stifel Financial by 46.5% during the 4th 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. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities raised their price target on 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 upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.86.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $78.82 on Monday. Stifel Financial Corp. has a one year low of $73.51 and a one year high of $120.64. 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 company has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.36.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Research analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 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.