Ieq Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 81,332 Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Key Points

• Ieq Capital acquired 81,332 shares of Stifel Financial in the second quarter, worth approximately $5.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 82.01% of the company, with BlackRock and AQR Capital among the largest recent buyers.
• Stifel Financial reported quarterly EPS of $1.42, beating estimates of $1.33, while revenue rose 13% year over year to $1.45 billion. The stock opened at $80.95, below its 12-month high of $89.83.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share, equivalent to a 1.7% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $91.90.

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 81,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,675,000. Ieq Capital LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Stifel Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the second quarter worth $1,031,197,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Stifel Financial by 94.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,893,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $362,368,000 after buying an additional 1,408,347 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $172,446,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the second quarter valued at $93,235,000. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial in the second quarter worth about $70,086,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Price Performance

NYSE:SF opened at $80.95 on Monday. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $67.81 and a 12 month high of $89.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $12.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.99.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 16.11%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is 24.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SF. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Stifel Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Stifel Financial from $80.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maryam S. Brown sold 4,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 5,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,736.80. This represents a 45.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.36% of the stock is owned by corporate 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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