Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF)

Key Points

• Foundations Investment Advisors LLC significantly increased its holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation by 194.3%, owning 6,565 shares valued at approximately $619,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds recently modified their stakes in Stifel Financial, indicating strong institutional interest in the company, which now has 82.01% of its stock owned by institutional investors.
• Stifel Financial reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for its last quarter, exceeding expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.6%.

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 194.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,334 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SF. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Stifel Financial by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 57,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 11,960 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the fourth quarter worth $423,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 299,261 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,746,000 after purchasing an additional 93,341 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Stifel Financial by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 15,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in Stifel Financial by 84.3% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 553 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 82.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stifel Financial Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SF traded up $1.03 on Monday, reaching $112.20. 119,836 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,213. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $103.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.81. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. Stifel Financial had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 11.90%. Stifel Financial's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Stifel Financial news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 45,833 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,592.77. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SF. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Stifel Financial from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price target on Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $124.00 to $84.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Stifel Financial from $123.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $115.78.

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.