First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 71,774 Shares of Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 167.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 114,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 71,774 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Stifel Financial worth $8,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SF. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 5.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,673 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 1,162.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 106.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 974 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 51.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 31,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 10,771 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 12.6% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,347,000 after purchasing an additional 4,686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SF. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research raised Stifel Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.90.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SF opened at $83.08 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $74.37 and a 200 day moving average of $76.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87 and a beta of 1.01. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $67.81 and a 12-month high of $89.83.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.09. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 16.11% and a return on equity of 19.32%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.20, for a total value of $372,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at $453,736.80. This represents a 45.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Stifel Financial

Stifel Financial Corp. is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1890, the firm has grown into a full‐service brokerage and investment banking organization serving individual investors, corporations and institutions. Through its principal subsidiary, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, the company delivers a broad array of financial products and services backed by research‐driven insights.

The firm's main business activities are organized into two core segments: Private Client Group and Institutional Group.

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