Petrus Trust Company LTA Invests $948,000 in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA recently acquired 10,054 shares of Stifel Financial Corporation, valued at approximately $948,000, indicating institutional interest in the financial services provider.
• Major institutional investors like Vanguard Group and AQR Capital Management have also significantly increased their holdings in Stifel Financial during the first quarter of the year.
• Research analysts have provided a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Stifel Financial, with multiple firms raising their target prices for the stock, now averaging $115.78.

Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SF. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Stifel Financial by 285.7% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 38,448 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,079,000 after acquiring an additional 28,480 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Stifel Financial by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,030,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $109,299,000 after buying an additional 29,344 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $609,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,184,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,726,000. Institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised Stifel Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price objective on Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Four 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, Stifel Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Stifel Financial stock traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $112.58. 560,627 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 639,764. Stifel Financial Corporation has a one year low of $73.27 and a one year high of $120.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 1.13.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.90%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid 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 35.66%.

Stifel Financial Company 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.