AQR Capital Management LLC Has $126.93 Million Holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Stifel Financial Corporation by 314.1%, now holding approximately 1.34% of the company, worth about $126.93 million.
• Stifel Financial received positive attention from analysts, with upgrades in ratings and target prices, including a new price target of $135.00 from Citigroup.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46, representing an annualized yield of 1.6%.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 314.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,383,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,049,665 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 1.34% of Stifel Financial worth $126,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SF. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 285.7% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 38,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,079,000 after buying an additional 28,480 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,030,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $109,299,000 after buying an additional 29,344 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $334,000. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $609,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Stifel Financial by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,184,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on SF shares. Citigroup upgraded Stifel Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 target price on Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:SF opened at $115.63 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $111.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.10. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64. The company has a market capitalization of $11.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.66%.

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.

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