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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SF. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Stifel Financial in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Stifel Financial during the first quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 67.7% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 123.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 331 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stifel Financial by 53.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SF shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Stifel Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stifel Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Stifel Financial in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Stifel Financial from $102.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $115.78.

Stifel Financial Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of SF traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $114.67. 101,116 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 780,131. The stock's 50-day moving average is $112.27 and its 200-day moving average is $100.31. The company has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 1.13. Stifel Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $73.27 and a fifty-two week 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.

Stifel Financial (NYSE:SF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.06. The firm 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%. The firm's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.