Stifel Financial Corporation $SF Stake Lowered by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Stifel Financial Corporation by 1.1%, owning approximately $274.89 million worth of shares, which represents 1.3% of their investment portfolio.
• Stifel Financial recently received upgrades from multiple analysts, with Citigroup raising their price target from $115 to $135 and Wells Fargo increasing theirs from $102 to $125.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.46 to be paid on September 16th, representing an annual yield of 1.6%.

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,916,311 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 32,165 shares during the period. Stifel Financial accounts for about 1.3% of Earnest Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 2.83% of Stifel Financial worth $274,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 4.2% during the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,907 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.0% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 67.7% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 2.7% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,549 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 6.8% during 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 during the period. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SF traded down $1.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $115.37. The company had a trading volume of 647,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 684,463. The company has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.11. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64. The business's 50-day moving average is $110.36 and its 200 day moving average is $99.95. 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 posted its quarterly 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. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.90%.The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In other Stifel Financial news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total transaction of $966,900.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 45,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,431,592.77. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 7 shares of company stock worth $781. 3.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.