Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.14 Million Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 522.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,042 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,106 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $1,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth $418,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the fourth quarter worth $990,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Stifel Financial by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 72,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,732,000 after acquiring an additional 19,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Stifel Financial

In related news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,592.77. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Stifel Financial Stock Up 1.9%

Stifel Financial stock opened at $96.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.07. Stifel Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $73.27 and a twelve month high of $120.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.48 and a 200-day moving average of $101.15.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($1.15). The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 14.00%. Stifel Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corp. will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SF. JMP Securities lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stifel Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.50.

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.

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