Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 6,003 Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,003 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $3,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,400,000 after buying an additional 11,960 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 299,261 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,746,000 after acquiring an additional 93,341 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,818,000 after acquiring an additional 10,733 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $1,048,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 1.4%

SF stock traded up $1.50 on Friday, reaching $111.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 121,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 800,368. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.95. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.27 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The firm has a market cap of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Stifel Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of Stifel Financial stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 45,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,592.77. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

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.