Wesbanco Bank Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Key Points

• Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its stake in Stifel Financial Corporation by 13.9%, now holding 27,200 shares valued at approximately $2.83 million after selling 4,400 shares in the second quarter.
• Multiple investment firms, including Voya Investment Management and Acadian Asset Management, have increased their holdings in Stifel Financial, reflecting significant interest from institutional investors.
• Stifel Financial recently reported $1.71 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share with a yield of 1.6%.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,400 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Stifel Financial were worth $2,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Stifel Financial by 39.7% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 16,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 4,785 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $743,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $7,289,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Stifel Financial by 365.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 65,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,193,000 after purchasing an additional 51,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Stifel Financial by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 26,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,464,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Stifel Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price target on Stifel Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Stock Performance

Shares of SF stock traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $114.71. The company had a trading volume of 326,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 778,273. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $112.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.63. The stock has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 1.13. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $73.27 and a 52-week high of $120.64.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during 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%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Stifel Financial's payout ratio is currently 35.66%.

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.