Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Buys 246 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SF. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,956,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256,595 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Stifel Financial by 78.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,958,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $183,923,000 after purchasing an additional 860,465 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the third quarter worth $12,290,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,464,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $137,509,000 after purchasing an additional 65,113 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 316.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 69,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,400,000 after buying an additional 52,991 shares during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on SF shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Stifel Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.14.

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In related news, COO David D. Sliney sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.18, for a total value of $2,904,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 159,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,544,535.42. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.57% of the company’s stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SF opened at $114.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.79. Stifel Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $71.36 and a fifty-two week high of $119.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Financial’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.