Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF) Stock Position Lifted by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 54.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 416,693 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 147,263 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned about 0.40% of Stifel Financial worth $39,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Stifel Financial by 522.0% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 10,106 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 47,124.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 425,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,062,000 after purchasing an additional 424,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 121.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,010 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $966,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,431,592.77. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SF shares. JMP Securities lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $106.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.50.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

SF traded up $1.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $96.60. 504,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 676,775. The stock has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.48 and a 200 day moving average of $101.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Stifel Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($1.15). The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Stifel Financial's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Stifel Financial's payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

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.