AIA Group Ltd Trims Holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 75.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,877 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 6,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 76,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,271,000 after buying an additional 37,047 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $649,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 36.5% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 35,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,742,000 after buying an additional 9,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 248.2% during the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 106,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after acquiring an additional 76,075 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SF shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David A. Peacock sold 13,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.90, for a total transaction of $1,038,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,489,815.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SF opened at $84.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $54.81 and a 52 week high of $85.72. The stock has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 1.11.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 11.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.18%.

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.