Summit Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Key Points

• Summit Financial LLC has invested approximately $497,000 in Stifel Financial Corporation by acquiring 5,268 shares in the first quarter.
• Stifel Financial has reported earnings of $1.71 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates, and achieved a net margin of 11.90% with a revenue increase of 5.4% from the previous year.
• The company will distribute a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share on September 16, marking an annualized dividend yield of 1.6%.

Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SF. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the first quarter valued at $361,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter worth $1,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 401.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 3,609 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Whitener Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Stifel Financial in the first quarter worth about $436,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SF traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $116.37. 544,682 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 790,661. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $73.27 and a 12-month high of $120.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.86. The firm has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 1.11.

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, beating 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 net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 13.93%. Stifel Financial's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Zimmerman sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $966,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 7 shares of company stock valued at $781 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price target on Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised Stifel Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.78.

Stifel Financial 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.