Federated Hermes Inc. Boosts Holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,003 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $3,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $361,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in Stifel Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $1,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 401.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 3,609 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 3.0% in the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Stifel Financial during the first quarter valued at about $436,000. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:SF traded down $0.30 on Wednesday, reaching $111.90. 895,260 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 807,254. The firm has a market cap of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.89. Stifel Financial Corporation 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 quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. Stifel Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup raised 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 research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value 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 trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.57% of the company's stock.

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.