New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stake in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 671,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,128 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $71,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 115,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,848,000 after buying an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 141,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,279,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 47,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,497,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Stifel Financial from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Stifel Financial from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.71.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:SF opened at $110.61 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.25. The stock has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 1.11. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $72.78 and a 1 year high of $120.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.27. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Stifel Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Stifel Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 29.49%.

Stifel Financial 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.