Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Buys Shares of 14,700 Stifel Financial Corporation $SF

Key Points

• Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI has made a new investment in Stifel Financial Corporation, acquiring 14,700 shares valued at approximately $1.39 million.
• Stifel Financial recently announced a dividend of $0.46 per share, payable on September 16th, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.6%.
• The company's last quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.71 EPS and revenues of $1.28 billion, up 5.4% year-over-year.

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,386,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the first quarter valued at about $628,000. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the first quarter valued at about $452,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the first quarter valued at about $1,132,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Stifel Financial by 1,162.6% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 2,488 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial during the first quarter valued at about $1,986,000. 82.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SF. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price target on shares of Stifel Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Stifel Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Stifel Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Trading Down 0.0%

SF stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.29. The company had a trading volume of 858,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 630,044. Stifel Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $73.27 and a 52 week high of $120.64. The company has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.27 and a 200 day moving average of $100.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.06. Stifel Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.60 earnings per share. Stifel Financial's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Stifel Financial Corporation will post 8.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stifel Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.