Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 75,700 Shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 108.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,461 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 75,700 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.14% of Stifel Financial worth $13,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SF. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 123.6% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 331 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 321 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SF traded down $1.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.39. 668,373 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 676,860. The company's 50 day moving average is $90.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.80 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share 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 net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total transaction of $966,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,592.77. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SF. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities decreased their target price on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Stifel Financial from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.50.

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.