Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Stifel Financial Corporation by 7.9%, selling 130,352 shares and holding a total of 1,516,081 shares worth approximately $142.9 million.
• Stifel Financial reported earnings of $1.71 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.65, with revenues reaching $1.28 billion, reflecting a 5.4% year-over-year growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46, yielding 1.7% annually, which will be paid to shareholders on September 16th, with a payout ratio of 35.66%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 7.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,516,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 130,352 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.47% of Stifel Financial worth $142,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 22,915 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $339,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 495.0% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 129,459 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,733,000 after buying an additional 51,103 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stifel Financial

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 transaction of $966,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,592.77. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders acquired 7 shares of company stock worth $781. Corporate insiders own 4.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SF. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 target price on Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup raised Stifel Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Four research 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of SF traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $115.16. 284,421 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 791,456. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.27 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $108.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.62.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.90%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Stifel Financial Company 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.